title: Mental practice combined with physical practice to enhance hand recovery in stroke patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate whether combining mental practice with physical practice training enhances hand function in patients with stroke.
  
  
  METHODS
  10 for treatment and 10 for control were recruited for this pre/posttraining matched case control study. In the treatment group, subjects underwent combining mental practice with physical practice for four weeks. In the control group, subjects only participated in physical practice. Change of hand function and the number of activated voxels of the contralateral somatosensory motor cortex (SMC) acquired by functional magnetic resonance imaging were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After training, the Action Research Arm Test score increased by 12.65 for treatment and by 5.20 for control. There was a significant difference in the Action Research Arm Test score between the two groups (P = 0.04). The activated voxels number of the contralateral SMC increased in both groups, but the activated voxels number in the contralateral SMC and the improvement of hand function for treatment were greater than for control. In the treatment group, the number of activated voxels of the contralateral SMC was positively correlated with better hand function scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Combining mental practice with physical practice may be a more effective treatment strategy than physical training alone for hand recovery in stroke patients.
authors.affiliation: Capital Medical University School of Rehabilitation Medicine, China Rehabilitation Research Center, No. 10 Jiaomenbei Road, Beijing 100068, China ; Capital University of Physical Education and Sports, School of Kinesiology and Health, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Capital Medical University School of Rehabilitation Medicine, China Rehabilitation Research Center, No. 10 Jiaomenbei Road, Beijing 100068, China.
authors.forename: Lu-Ping
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Capital Medical University School of Rehabilitation Medicine, China Rehabilitation Research Center, No. 10 Jiaomenbei Road, Beijing 100068, China.
authors.forename: Tong
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3863-2121
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D019018:Imagery, Psychotherapy; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D020521:Stroke / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation