Can mental practice adjunct in the recovery of motor function in the upper limbs after stroke? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Danielle Aprigio; Juliana Bittencourt; Maria Ramim; Victor Marinho; Igor Brauns; Isabelle Fernandes; Pedro Ribeiro; Bruna Velasques; Ana Catarina Alves E Silva

doi:10.4103/bc.bc_28_22

Can mental practice adjunct in the recovery of motor function in the upper limbs after stroke? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Brain Circ. 2022 Sep 21;8(3):146-158. doi: 10.4103/bc.bc_28_22. eCollection 2022 Jul-Sep.

Authors

Danielle Aprigio^{1

2}, Juliana Bittencourt^{1

2

3}, Maria Ramim^{2

4}, Victor Marinho⁵, Igor Brauns^{3

4}, Isabelle Fernandes^{1

2}, Pedro Ribeiro^{2

4

6}, Bruna Velasques^{1

2

6}, Ana Catarina Alves E Silva⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Neurophysiology and Neuropsychology of Attention Laboratory, Institute of Psychiatry of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
² Institute of Applied Neuroscience, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
³ Veiga de Almeida University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, Brain Mapping and Sensory Motor Integration Laboratory, Institute of Psychiatry of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, Neuro-Innovation Technology and Brain Mapping Laboratory, Federal University of Delta do Parnaiba, Parnaiba, Brazil.
⁶ Department of Bioscience, School of Physical Education of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry, National Cancer Institute - INCA, Interdisciplinary Head and Neck Laboratory, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Abstract

Background: Studies indicate that mental practice can be an adjuvant rehabilitation, improving motor functions.

Aim: To synthesize the evidence on the intervention with the mental practice for the rehabilitation of the upper limb after stroke in the context of a dependent task.

Methods: The review was registered on the PROSPERO with protocol number: CRD42020166624. We searched the PubMed, Medline, Embase, Central, PEDro, and Web of Science from randomized clinical trials from 1975 to 2022. A literature review was conducted with 13 studies that synthesized findings on mental practice such as adjuvant rehabilitation in the recovery of the upper limb after stroke based on Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) Motor and action research arm test (ARAT) scores.

Results: The sample size was 232 were part of the intervention group and 180 of the control group. The findings no showed results in favor of mental practice after stroke accordingly to ARAT and FMA Motor scores (P > 0.05).

Conclusion: Current evidence does not support the use of the mental practice to increase the recovery of the upper limb after stroke, although the evidence is conflicting for some aspects of the technique.

Keywords: Functional performance; mental practice; motor imagery; stroke; upper extremity.