Mirror Therapy
Congenital Stroke
Neofect Smart Glove Helps Congenital Stroke Survivor JanetNEOFECT Smart Glove user Janet suffered a congenital stroke when she was an infant. Janet went through therapy as a youth, took some time off, returning to therapy as an adult to take control of her body once again.
Mirror Neuron
Mirror Neurons And Stroke Rehabilitation TrainingMirror Neurons for stroke rehabilitation
Have you ever experienced contagious yawning? There must have been a time when
you saw someone yawning with his mouth open wide and unconsciously did the same.
You may also have experienced your face mimicking the expressions or the slight
muscle movements in the face of the person sitting and talking before you.
Just like the reflections in a mirror. Such phenomena occur involuntarily
regardless of our will. Whether involuntary or voluntary, the contraction of the
muscles and the occurrence of such movement indicate that the associated motor
program has been executed in our central nervous system. What is the reason
behind the phenomenon of unconsciously mimicking the movements of another
person?
Mirror neurons are what provide us with the explanation in a neurophysiological
approach. Mirror neurons refer to the nerve cells that are activated once you
observe someone else practicing a certain movement, or when you make the same
movement of your own. The name was given because of its resemblance to the
reflection in a mirror.
This mirror neuron, considered to be the most groundbreaking discovery in the
history of neuroscience, was first discovered in 1995 by Giacomo Rizzolatti, who
is known as Einstein of Italy as the neuroscientist of the University of Parma.
The existence of the mirror neurons was found by coincidence. In Giacomo
Rizzolatti’s laboratory of the University of Parma, a research was conducted on
the motor area of a monkey’s brain. After inserting electrodes in the Ventral
premotor cortex of the monkey’s cerebrum, the monkey was instructed to eat food
with its hand. While the monkey was carrying out the task, the activation of the
Ventral premotor cortex in the cerebrum was recorded with sounds of a bell and
braille.
During the break time of the research, one of the research team members pulled a
prank on the monkey by eating some of its food. Then the bell rang and the
braille was recorded. Surprised, the researcher reported the case to Giacomo
Rizzolatti, who began an in-depth study on such response. He designed three
situations as the pictures above and compared the responses of the Ventral
premotor cortex in the cerebrum.
1. The response of the Ventral premotor cortex when the monkey watches the
movement of another monkey eating the food with its hand
2. The response of the Ventral premotor cortex when the monkey watches the
movement of a human eating the food with his hand
3. The response of the Ventral premotor cortex when the monkey makes the
movement of eating the food with its hand
Results of the comparison showed that the brain activity was similar for all
three cases. With such finding as he basis, Giacomo Rizzolatti announced that
within the motor area of the Ventral premotor cortex in the cerebrum exists the
mirror neuron, which responses and becomes active just by watching the movement
of another being.
Based on the research, a mirror may be adopted in the process of stroke
rehabilitation training. For example, if you place a mirror before you when
walking, you can check whether your legs are symmetrical, enabling you to
observe and assess your manner of walking over a long period of time.
There are many cases of when the adoption of mirrors in the rehabilitation
training helps in better control of movements in the affected side (the part
suffering from hemiplegia due to stroke, the part of greater difficulty in
movement), because watching yourself in the mirror makes it easier for you to
concentrate on your movements.
*Neofect Home Inquiry:
-www.neofect.com [https://www.neofect.com/us]
-Phone: (888) 623-8984 [tel:+18886238984]
Neuroplasticity
4 Tips for Combating Hemiplegia Using the Power of the BrainConsider functional things that you can do with your affected side. Get out of the habit of moving your affected side with your "good" or non-affected side.