A combination of mental practice and physical therapy may help stroke survivors regain the strength of their motor behaviors, according to a study published March 30 in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. The researchers recorded fMRI signals from 17 young healthy controls and 13 older stroke survivors. Participants with stroke underwent mental practice or both mental practice and physical therapy within 14 to 51 days following stroke. Investigators discovered that network activity was in the frequency range of 0.06 to 0.08 Hz for all brain regions studied and for controls and participants with stroke. Information flow between brain regions was reduced significantly for stroke survivors. The flow did not increase significantly after mental practice alone, but the flow among the regions during mental practice and physical therapy increased significantly.
—Kimberly Williams