Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Volume 87, Issue 12, Supplement , Pages 2-11 , December 2006

Mental Practice With Motor Imagery: Evidence for Motor Recovery and Cortical Reorganization After Stroke

  • Andrew J. Butler, PhD, PT

      Affiliations

    • Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests to Andrew J. Butler, PhD, PT, Dept of Rehabilitation Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322
  • ,
  • Stephen J. Page, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Stroke Team, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH

References 

  1. Barreca S, Wolf SL, Fasoli S, Bohannon R. Treatment interventions for the paretic upper limb of stroke survivors: a critical review. Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2003;17:220–226
  2. Braun SM, Beurskens AJ, Borm PJ, Schack T, Wade DT. The effects of mental practice in stroke rehabilitation: a systematic review. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2006;87:842–852
  3. Sharma N, Pomeroy VM, Baron JC. Motor imagery: a backdoor to the motor system after stroke?. Stroke. 2006;37:1941–1952
  4. Feltz D, Landers D. The effects of mental practice on motor skill learning and performance: an article. J Sport Psychol. 1983;5:25–57
  5. Page SJ, Levine P, Sisto S, Johnston MV. A randomized efficacy and feasibility study of imagery in acute stroke. Clin Rehabil. 2001;15:233–240
  6. Wittenberg GF, Chen R, Ishii K, et al. Constraint-induced therapy in stroke: magnetic-stimulation motor maps and cerebral activation. Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2003;17:48–57
  7. Schaechter JD, Kraft E, Hilliard TS, et al. Motor recovery and cortical reorganization after constraint-induced movement therapy in stroke patients: a preliminary study. Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2002;16:326–338
  8. Johansen-Berg H, Dawes H, Guy C, Smith SM, Wade DT, Matthews PM. Correlation between motor improvements and altered fMRI activity after rehabilitative therapy. Brain. 2002;125(Pt 12):2731–2742
  9. Hamzei F, Liepert J, Dettmers C, Weiller C, Rijntjes M. Two different reorganization patterns after rehabilitative therapy: an exploratory study with fMRI and TMS. Neuroimage. 2006;31:710–720
  10. Jacobsen E. Electrical measurement of neuromuscular states during mental activities: VI. A note on mental activities concerning an amputated limb. Am J Physiol. 1931;43:122–125
  11. Hale B. The effects of internal and external imagery on muscular and ocular concomitants. J Sport Psychol. 1982;4:379–387
  12. Bakker F, Boschker M, Chung J. Changes in muscular activity while imagining weight lifting using stimulus or response propositions. J Sport Exerc Psychol. 1996;18:313–324
  13. Livesay JR, Samaras MR. Covert neuromuscular activity of the dominant forearm during visualization of a motor task. Percept Mot Skills. 1998;86:371–374
  14. Decety J. Do imagined and executed actions share the same neural substrate?. Cogn Brain Res. 1996;3:87–93
  15. Gandevia SC. Mind, muscles and motoneurones. J Sci Med Sport. 1999;2:167–180
  16. Jeannerod M, Frak V. Mental imaging of motor activity in humans. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 1999;9:735–739
  17. Fadiga L, Buccino G, Craighero L, Fogassi L, Gallese V, Pavesi G. Corticospinal excitability is specifically modulated by motor imagery: a magnetic stimulation study. Neuropsychologia. 1999;37:147–158
  18. Gandevia SC, Macefield VG, Bigland-Ritchie B, Gorman RB, Burke D. Motoneuronal output and gradation of effort in attempts to contract acutely paralysed leg muscles in man. J Physiol. 1993;471:411–427
  19. Gandevia SC, Wilson LR, Inglis JT, Burke D. Mental rehearsal of motor tasks recruits alpha-motoneurones but fails to recruit human fusimotor neurones selectively. J Physiol. 1997;505(Pt 1):259–266
  20. Bonnet M, Decety J, Jeannerod M, Requin J. Mental simulation of an action modulates the excitability of spinal reflex pathways in man. Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 1997;5:221–228
  21. Kiers L, Fernando B, Tomkins D. Facilitatory effect of thinking about movement on magnetic motor-evoked potentials. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1997;105:262–268
  22. Rossini PM, Rossi S, Pasqualetti P, Tecchio F. Corticospinal excitability modulation to hand muscles during movement imagery. Cereb Cortex. 1999;9:161–167
  23. Facchini S, Muellbacher W, Battaglia F, Boroojerdi B, Hallett M. Focal enhancement of motor cortex excitability during motor imagery: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study. Acta Neurol Scand. 2002;105:146–151
  24. Pascual-Leone A, Nguyet D, Cohen LG, Brasil-Neto JP, Cammarota A, Hallett M. Modulation of muscle responses evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation during the acquisition of new fine motor skills. J Neurophysiol. 1995;74:1037–1045
  25. Pelgrims B, Andres M, Olivier E. Motor imagery while judging object-hand interactions. Neuroreport. 2005;16:1193–1196
  26. Rossi S, Pasqualetti P, Tecchio F, Pauri F, Rossini PM. Corticospinal excitability modulation during mental simulation of wrist movements in human subjects. Neurosci Lett. 1998;243:147–151
  27. Stinear CM, Byblow WD. Motor imagery of phasic thumb abduction temporally and spatially modulates corticospinal excitability. Clin Neurophysiol. 2003;114:909–914
  28. Kasai T, Kawai S, Kawanishi M, Yahagi S. Evidence for facilitation of motor evoked potentials (MEPs) induced by motor imagery. Brain Res. 1997;744:147–150
  29. Yahagi S, Kasai T. Facilitation of motor evoked potentials (MEPs) in first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle is dependent on different motor images. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1998;109:409–417
  30. Hashimoto R, Rothwell JC. Dynamic changes in corticospinal excitability during motor imagery. Exp Brain Res. 1999;125:75–81
  31. Abbruzzese G, Assini A, Buccolieri A, Marchese R, Trompetto C. Changes of intracortical inhibition during motor imagery in human subjects. Neurosci Lett. 1999;263:113–116
  32. Ziemann U, Corwell B, Cohen LG. Modulation of plasticity in human motor cortex after forearm ischemic nerve block. J Neurosci. 1998;18:1115–1123
  33. Brasil-Neto JP. Rapid modulation of human cortical motor outputs following ischaemic nerve block. Brain. 1993;116(Pt 3):511–525
  34. Porro CA, Francescato MP, Cettolo V, et al. Primary motor and sensory cortex activation during motor performance and motor imagery: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. J Neurosci. 1996;16:7688–7698
  35. Luft AR, McCombe-Waller S, Whitall J, et al. Repetitive bilateral arm training and motor cortex activation in chronic stroke: a randomized controlled trial. [published erratum in: JAMA 2004;292:2470] JAMA. 2004;292:1853–1861
  36. Szaflarski J, Page S, Kissela B, Levine P, Lee J. Use-dependent cortical reorganization after modified constraint-induced therapy. [abstract] Stroke. 2005;36:422
  37. Nudo RJ, Wise BM, SiFuentes F, Milliken GW. Neural substrates for the effects of rehabilitative training on motor recovery after ischemic infarct. Science. 1996;272:1791–1794
  38. Nudo RJ, Milliken GW, Jenkins WM, Merzenich MM. Use-dependent alterations of movement representations in primary motor cortex of adult squirrel monkeys. J Neurosci. 1996;16:785–807
  39. Merzenich MM. Topographic reorganization of somatosensory cortical areas 3b and 1 in adult monkeys following restricted deafferentation. Neuroscience. 1982;8:33–55
  40. Jenkins WM. Reorganization of neocortical representations after brain injury: a neurophysiological model of the bases of recovery from stroke. Prog Brain Res. 1987;71:249–266
  41. Pons TP, Garraghty PE, Ommaya AK, Kaas JH, Taub E, Mishkin M. Massive cortical reorganization after sensory deafferentation in adult macaques. Science. 1991;252:1857–1860
  42. Nudo RJ, Milliken GW. Reorganization of movement representations in primary motor cortex following focal ischemic infarcts in adult squirrel monkeys. J Neurophysiol. 1996;75:2144–2149
  43. Nudo R, Wise B, SiFuentes F, Milliken G. Neural substrates for the effect of rehabilitative training motor recovery after ischemic infarct. Science. 1996;272:1791–1794
  44. Leonardo M, Fieldman J, Sadato N, et al. A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of cortical regions associated with motor task execution and motor ideation in humans. Hum Brain Mapp. 1995;3:83–92
  45. Jackson PL, Lafleur MF, Malouin F, Richards CL, Doyon J. Functional cerebral reorganization following motor sequence learning through mental practice with motor imagery. Neuroimage. 2003;20:1171–1180
  46. Malouin F, Richards CL, Jackson PL, Dumas F, Doyon J. Brain activations during motor imagery of locomotor-related tasks: a PET study. Hum Brain Mapp. 2003;19:47–62
  47. Luft AR, Skalej M, Stefanou A, Klose U, Voigt K. Comparing motion- and imagery-related activation in the human cerebellum: a functional MRI study. Hum Brain Mapp. 1998;6:105–113
  48. Johnson SH, Rotte M, Grafton ST, Hinrichs H, Gazzaniga MS, Heinze HJ. Selective activation of a parietofrontal circuit during implicitly imagined prehension. Neuroimage. 2002;17:1693–1704
  49. Roth M, Decety J, Raybaudi M, et al. Possible involvement of primary motor cortex in mentally simulated movement: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Neuroreport. 1996;7:1280–1284
  50. Lotze M, Montoya P, Erb M, et al. Activation of cortical and cerebellar motor areas during executed and imagined hand movements: an fMRI study. J Cogn Neurosci. 1999;11:491–501
  51. Cao Y, D’Olhaberriague L, Vikingstad EM, Levine SR, Welch KM. Pilot study of functional MRI to assess cerebral activation of motor function after poststroke hemiparesis. Stroke. 1998;29:112–122
  52. Weiller C. Functional reorganization of the brain in recovery from striatocapsular infarction in man. Ann Neurol. 1992;31:463–472
  53. Weiller C, Ramsay SC, Wise RJ, Friston KJ, Frackowiack RS. Individual Patterns of functional reorganization in the human cerebral cortex after capsular infarction. Ann Neurol. 1993;33:181–189
  54. Cramer SC, Nelles G, Benson RR, et al. A functional MRI study of subjects recovered from hemiparetic stroke. Stroke. 1997;28:2518–2527
  55. Binkofski F, Seitz RJ, Hacklander T, Pawelec D, Mau J, Freund HJ. Recovery of motor functions following hemiparetic stroke: a clinical and magnetic resonance-morphometric study. Cerebrovasc Dis. 2001;11:273–281
  56. Ward NS, Brown MM, Thompson AJ, Frackowiak RS. Neural correlates of motor recovery after stroke: a longitudinal fMRI study. Brain. 2003;126(Pt 11):2476–2496
  57. Kimberley TJ, Khandekar G, Skraba LL, Spencer JA, Van Gorp EA, Walker SR. Neural substrates for motor imagery in severe hemiparesis. Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2006;20:268–277
  58. Chollet F, DiPiero V, Wise RJ, Brooks DJ, Dolan RJ, Frackowiak RS. The functional anatomy of motor recovery after stroke in humans: a study with positron emission tomography. Ann Neurol. 1991;29:63–71
  59. Nelles G, Spiekermann G, Jueptner M, et al. Reorganization of sensory and motor systems in hemiplegic stroke patients (A positron emission tomography study). Stroke. 1999;30:1510–1516
  60. Seitz RJ, Hoflich P, Binkofski F, Tellmann L, Herzog H, Freund HJ. Role of the premotor cortex in recovery from middle cerebral artery infarction. Arch Neurol. 1998;55:1081–1088
  61. Carey JR, Kimberley TJ, Lewis SM, et al. Analysis of fMRI and finger tracking training in subjects with chronic stroke. Brain. 2002;125(Pt 4):773–788
  62. Page SJ. Imagery improves upper extremity motor function in chronic stroke patients: a pilot study. Occup Ther J Res. 2000;3:200–215
  63. Fugl-Meyer AR, Jaasko L, Leyman I, Olsson S, Steglind S. The post-stroke hemiplegic patient. 1. A method for evaluation of physical performance. Scand J Rehabil Med. 1975;7:13–31
  64. Page SJ, Hewett T, Ford K, Levine P. Mental practice improves reaching kinematics in stroke. [abstract] Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2005;86:E7–E8
  65. Page SJ, Levine P, Sisto SA, Johnston MV. Mental practice combined with physical practice for upper-limb motor deficit in subacute stroke. Phys Ther. 2001;81:1455–1462
  66. Wolf SL, Catlin PA, Ellis M, Archer AL, Morgan B, Piacentino A. Assessing Wolf motor function test as outcome measure for research in patients after stroke. Stroke. 2001;32:1635–1639
  67. Taub E, Miller NE, Novack TA, et al. Technique to improve chronic motor deficit after stroke. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1993;74:347–354
  68. van der Lee JH, Beckerman H, Knol DL, de Vet HC, Bouter LM. Clinimetric properties of the motor activity log for the assessment of arm use in hemiparetic patients. Stroke. 2004;35:1410–1414
  69. Hall CR, Martin KA. Measuring movement imagery abilities: a revision of the Movement Imagery Questionnaire. J Ment Imagery. 1997;21:143–154
  70. Isaac AR, Marks DF. Individual differences in mental imagery experience: developmental changes and specialization. Br J Psychol. 1994;85(Pt 4):479–500
  71. Isaac A, Marks DF, Russell DG. An Instrument for assessing imagery of movement: The Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire (VMIQ). J Ment Imagery. 1986;10:23–30
  72. Sirigu A, Duhamel JR. Motor and visual imagery as two complementary but neurally dissociable mental processes. J Cogn Neurosci. 2001;13:910–919
  73. Sirigu A, Daprati E, Pradat-Diehl P, Franck N, Jeannerod M. Perception of self-generated movement following left parietal lesion. Brain. 1999;122:1867–1874
  74. Small SL, Hlustik P, Noll DC, Genovese C, Solodkin A. Cerebellar hemispheric activation ipsilateral to the paretic hand correlates with functional recovery after stroke. Brain. 2002;125(Pt 7):1544–1557
  75. Buonomano DV. Cortical plasticity: from synapses to maps. Annu Rev Neurosci. 1998;21:149–186
  76. Moser E, Moser MB, Andersen P. Synaptic potentiation in the rat dentate gyrus during exploratory learning. Neuroreport. 1993;5:317–320
  77. Rogan MT, Staubli UV, LeDoux JE. Fear conditioning induces associative long-term potentiation in the amygdala. Nature. 1997;390:604–607
  78. McKernan MG, Shinnick-Gallagher P. Fear conditioning induces a lasting potentiation of synaptic currents in vitro. Nature. 1997;390:607–611
  79. Rioult-Pedotti MS, Friedman D, Donoghue JP. Learning-induced LTP in neocortex. Science. 2000;290:533–536
  80. Houk JC, Keifer J, Barto AG. Distributed motor commands in the limb premotor network. Trends Neurosci. 1993;16:27–33
  81. Sirigu A, Duhamel JR, Cohen L, Pillon B, Dubois B, Agid Y. The mental representation of hand movements after parietal cortex damage. Science. 1996;273:1564–1568

 Supported by the National Institutes of Health (grant nos. R21AT002138, R21AT02110-01A1, K01AT02637) and the Retirement Research Foundation (grant no. 2001-037).

 No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.

PII: S0003-9993(06)01272-X

doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2006.08.326

Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Volume 87, Issue 12, Supplement , Pages 2-11 , December 2006