Studies Show Power & Promise of Imagery for Stroke Patients

Outcomes were measured on the performance of 15 trained and 5 untrained tasks, including household, cooking, and shopping tasks; and the Fugl-Meyer Assessment and Color Trails Test (CTT).

The study found that those patients engaged in the mental imagery-based intervention showed better relearning of both trained and untrained tasks, as compared with the control group (trained tasks: P<.005; untrained tasks: P<.001). They also demonstrated a greater ability to retain the trained tasks after 1 month and transfer the skills relearned to other untrained tasks (P<.001). However, among the various ability measures, the mental imagery group showed a significant increase in the CTT scores only after the intervention (P<.005). The researchers conclude that mental imagery can and should be used as a training strategy to promote the relearning of daily tasks for people after an acute stroke. The imagery process is likely to improve the planning and execution of both the trained and the untrained (novel) tasks. The effect of its relearning appears to help patients to retain and generalize the skills and tasks learned in the rehabilitation program.

Citation: Liu KP, Chan CC, Lee TM, Hui-Chan CW. Mental imagery for promoting relearning for people after stroke: a randomized controlled trial. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2004 Sep; 85 (9): pages 1403-8.