Международный журнал нейрореабилитации

Acute Effect of Visually Induced Kinesthetic Illusion in Patients with Stroke: A Preliminary Report

Abstract

Fuminari Kaneko, Toru Inada, Naoki Matsuda, Eriko Shibata and Satoshi Koyama

A kinesthetic illusion induces a feeling as if an individual’s own body is moving during sensory input, even though the body is actually in a resting state. In a previous study, we reported that a visually induced kinesthetic illusion (KiNVIS) increases corticospinal tract excitability that is associated with activity of the motor-association regions. The present study explored the acute effect of KiNVIS on motor function in five patients who had experienced stroke, as a preliminary study. Five Japanese patients with stroke, who had been otherwise healthy, participated in the present trial. During KiNVIS, a display was set over the forearm so that the position of the display would give the illusion that the patient’s forearm was actually the same as that depicted in a movie. The movie showed a hand grasping and opening on the uninvolved side, and was repeatedly played for 15 min. Motor function was evaluated with the upper extremity section of the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA-UE) as a primary outcome. Furthermore, we measured a performance of an appropriate motor task for each patient to detect change in motor function as a secondary outcome. In each patient, a positive effect on motor function was detected immediately after KiNVIS, and the appearance of reciprocal muscular control was observed in surface electromyography. There was no difference in the FMA-UE score between before and after the intervention; however, the score was slightly increased in two patients. Furthermore, upon comparison of the individual measurement results, each examination indicated positive changes in motor function. KiNVIS may have an acute positive effect in patients with stroke. The study provides, for the first time, evidence for the therapeutic potential of KiNVIS in stroke rehabilitation.