title: Animal assisted interventions in neurorehabilitation: a review of the most recent literature.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  While conventional wisdom has always affirmed the value of animals in promoting human health and well-being, only recently has their therapeutic role in medicine become a topic for dedicated research. Animal assisted interventions (AAI) can be classified as animal-assisted activities, animal-assisted therapy, and service animal programs.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this review is to analyse original papers addressing AAI and neurological diseases and published in the most influential medical journals between 2001 and 2012, and discuss their findings in the light of what may be of interest in the field of neurology.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We selected a total of 23 articles on neurorehabilitation in cerebral palsy, pervasive developmental disorders, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, stroke, and mental disorders. The main therapeutic results were improvement on the Gross Motor Function Classification Scale and in upper limb dexterity (cerebral palsy); improvement in social functioning and interaction; reductions in stress, anxiety, and loneliness (pervasive developmental disorders and mental disorders); and decreased spasticity with improved balance (multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, stroke).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These interventions, performed with highly specialised animals in very specific neurological populations, deliver an increasing body of scientific evidence suggesting that they are an effective complement to other existing therapies. In these diseases, further high-quality studies are warranted in order to define the most appropriate programmes for therapy.
authors: Departamento de Medicina Física y Rehabilitación, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, España. Electronic address: anibaltacha@hotmail.com.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Muñoz Lasa
authors: Departamento de Fisioterapia, Terapia Ocupacional, Rehabilitación y Medicina Física, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, España.
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Máximo Bocanegra
authors: Departamento de Medicina Física y Rehabilitación, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, España.
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Valero Alcaide
authors: Departamento de Medicina Física y Rehabilitación, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, España.
authors: M A
authors: MA
authors: Atín Arratibel
authors: Departamento de Medicina Física y Rehabilitación, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, España.
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Varela Donoso
authors: Unidad de Rehabilitación Ocupacional y Ergonomía, Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri, IRCCS, Istituto Scientifico di Veruno (NO), Veruno, Italia.
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Ferriero
mesh_terms: D056447:Animal Assisted Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D000066530:Neurological Rehabilitation / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Animal assisted therapy; Animales de servicio; Enfermedades del sistema nervioso; Nervous system diseases; Service animals; Terapia asistida por animales