Potential determinants of efficacy of mirror therapy in stroke patients--A pilot study.

Background: Mirror therapy (MT) was found to improve motor function after stroke. However, there is high variability between patients regarding motor recovery.

Objectives: The following pilot study was designed to identify potential factors determining this variability between patients with severe upper limb paresis, receiving MT.

Different effects of the mirror illusion on motor and somatosensory processing.

Purpose: Mirror therapy can improve motor and sensory functions, but effects of the mirror illusion on primary motor and somatosensory cortex could not be established consistently.

Methods: Fifteen right handed healthy volunteers performed or observed a finger-thumb opposition task. Cerebral activations during normal movement (NOR), mirrored movement (MIR) and movement observation (OBS) by means of a video chain were recorded with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Cerebral activation evoked by the mirror illusion of the hand in stroke patients compared to normal subjects.

Background: Mirror therapy (MT) was found to improve motor function after stroke, but its neural mechanisms remain unclear, especially in single stroke patients.

Objectives: The following imaging study was designed to compare brain activation patterns evoked by the mirror illusion in single stroke patients with normal subjects.

Methods: Fifteen normal volunteers and five stroke patients with severe arm paresis were recruited.

A comparison of neural mechanisms in mirror therapy and movement observation therapy.

Objective: To compare lateralized cerebral activations elicited during self-initiated movement mirroring and observation of movements.

Subjects: A total of 15 right-handed healthy subjects, age range 22-56 years.

Methods: Functional imaging study comparing movement mirroring with movement observation, in both hands, in an otherwise identical setting.