Motor imagery practice in gait rehabilitation of chronic post-stroke hemiparesis: four case studies.

Full Abstract

The aim of this series of pilot case studies was to examine the feasibility of enhancing the walking of individuals with post-stroke hemiparesis through the imagery practice of gait activities at home. Four persons with chronic hemiparesis received imagery gait practice, 3 days a week for 6 weeks. The intervention addressed gait impairments of the affected lower limb and task-specific gait training. Pre-intervention, mid-term, post-intervention and follow-up evaluations were performed. At 6 weeks from the beginning of treatment, the participants increased walking speed, stride length, cadence and single-support time on the affected lower limb, while decreasing double-support time. The findings appear to justify the institution of a larger-scale study in order to better delineate the contribution of motor imagery practice to gait performance in individuals with post-stroke hemiparesis.

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Author information

Author/s: Dunsky, Ayelet (A); Dickstein, Ruth (R); Ariav, Claudet (C); Deutsch, Judith (J); Marcovitz, Emanuel (E);

Affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Studies, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Case Reports; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: International journal of rehabilitation research. Internationale Zeitschrift für Rehabilitationsforschung. Revue internationale de recherches de réadaptation (Int J Rehabil Res), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Dec; vol 29 (issue 4) : pp 351-6

Dates: Created 2006/11/19; Completed 2007/03/08; Revised 2007/11/15;

PMID: 17106356, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Gait
Humans
Male
Middle Aged

Paresis - etiology; rehabilitation
Physical Therapy Modalities
Stroke - complications
Walking

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