Motor image recall ability affects the excitability of spinal nerve functionin healthy participants executing mirror therapy tasks at differentcomplexities

摘要

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to use Mirror Therapy to clarify the effect ofthe differences in image recall ability and the types of finger exercises on theexcitability of spinal nerve function. This study will help establish the methodology fortherapeutic intervention using Mirror Therapy. [Participants and Methods] We divided 30healthy right-handed adults into two groups: one with high exercise image recall abilityand the other with low exercise image recall ability. The participants were asked to putboth hands in the Mirror Box such that the left hand was hidden behind the mirror. Whilelooking at the mirror image of the right hand, they were instructed not to move the lefthand voluntarily. We measured the F-wave from the finger abductor muscle using evokedelectromyography. [Results] The comparison between the high and low image recall groupsshowed that the excitability of spinal nerve function increased in the low image recallgroup overall. [Conclusion] From the above results, we suggest that when performing mirrortherapy, it is necessary to select a task that is not too simple and not difficult to movenormally.