Abstract
Cerebral vascular accidents (strokes) are a leading cause of motor deficiency in millions of people worldwide. While a complex range of biological systems is affected following a stroke, in this paper we focus primarily on impairments of the motor system and the recovery of motor skills. We briefly review research that has assessed two types of mental practice, which are currently recommended in stroke rehabilitation. Namely, action observation (AO) therapy and motor imagery (MI) training. We highlight the strengths and limitations in both techniques, before making the case for combined action observation and motor imagery (AO + MI) therapy as a potentially more effective method. This is based on a growing body of multimodal brain imaging research showing advantages for combined AO + MI instructions over the two separate methods of AO and MI. Finally, we offer a series of suggestions and considerations for how combined AO + MI therapy could be employed in neurorehabilitation.
Highlights
Cerebral vascular accidents are a leading cause of motor deficiency in millions of people worldwide [1]
We offer a series of suggestions and considerations for how combined action observation (AO) + motor imagery (MI) therapy could be employed in neurorehabilitation
We provide a balanced and concise analysis and discussion of contemporary research examining the use of two mental practice techniques, namely, action observation (AO) and motor imagery (MI) in post-stroke rehabilitation
Summary
Cerebral vascular accidents (strokes) are a leading cause of motor deficiency in millions of people worldwide [1]. There is strong evidence in cognitive neuroscience literature showing the brain can adapt or reorganise itself in response to sensory input, learning and experience [9] This process is referred to as neuroplasticity [10], and can occur in both the healthy and impaired brain [11,12]. Given that everyday movements can be significantly impaired, in the acute post-stroke phases, physical practice may not be possible or appropriate. To address this pertinent issue, a great deal of research has investigated the efficacy of mental practice techniques for enhancing neurorehabilitation instead [17].
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