title: Cerebral activation evoked by the mirror illusion of the hand in stroke patients compared to normal subjects.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mirror therapy (MT) was found to improve motor function after stroke, but its neural mechanisms remain unclear, especially in single stroke patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  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. Cerebral activations during movement mirroring by means of a video chain were recorded with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Single-subject analysis was performed using SPM 8.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For normal subjects, ten and thirteen subjects displayed lateralized cerebral activations evoked by the mirror illusion while moving their right and left hand respectively. The magnitude of this effect in the precuneus contralateral to the seen hand was not dependent on movement speed or subjective experience. Negative correlation of activation strength with age was found for the right hand only. The activation pattern in stroke patients is comparable to that of normal subjects and present in four out of five patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In summary, the mirror illusion can elicit cerebral activation contralateral to the perceived hand in the majority of single normal subjects, but not in all of them. This is similar even in stroke patients with severe hemiparesis.
authors.affiliation: MEDIAN Klinik Berlin-Kladow, Berlin, Germany Center for Rehabilitation, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Jiaxing University, Jiaxing, China Department of Neurology, Charité- Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: MEDIAN Klinik Berlin-Kladow, Berlin, Germany Center for Stroke Research Berlin, Charité- University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fritzsch
authors.affiliation: Medical Faculty, Institute for Biometry and Medical Computer Science, University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bernarding
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Charité- Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany Center for Stroke Research Berlin, Charité- University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Krause
authors.affiliation: MEDIAN Klinik Berlin-Kladow, Berlin, Germany Department of Neurology, Charité- Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Karl-Heinz
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Mauritz
authors.affiliation: MEDIAN Klinik Berlin-Kladow, Berlin, Germany Medical Faculty, Institute for Biometry and Medical Computer Science, University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Maddalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brunetti
authors.affiliation: MEDIAN Klinik Berlin-Kladow, Berlin, Germany Center for Stroke Research Berlin, Charité- University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany Center for Rehabilitation Research, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dohle
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006225:Hand; D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions / Q000502:physiology*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D019018:Imagery, Psychotherapy; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D010100:Oxygen; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D020521:Stroke / Q000473:pathology*; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
keywords: Movement; imaging; mirror illusion; mirror therapy; stroke