Stroke. 1998 Jun;29(6):1182-7

Quantitative assessment of mirror movements after stroke

Nelles G, Cramer SC, Schaechter JD, Kaplan JD, Finklestein SP.

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Mirror movements (MM) are involuntary synchronous movements of one limb during voluntary unilateral movements of the opposite limb. We measured MM in stroke and control subjects and evaluated whether MM after stroke are related to motor function.
METHODS: Twenty-three patients and 16 control subjects were studied. A computerized dynamometer was used during two squeezing tasks to measure intended movements from the active hand as well as MM from the opposite hand. Motor deficits were measured with the arm motor component of the Fugl-Meyer scale.
RESULTS: During paretic hand squeezing, MM in the unaffected hand were detected in 70% (repetitive squeeze) to 78% (sustained squeeze) of stroke patients. For both tasks, this was significantly (P CONCLUSIONS: Simultaneously recording motor performances of both hands provides precise information to characterize MM. MM in the unaffected hand and in the paretic hand are associated with different degrees of motor deficit after stroke. Evaluation of MM may be useful for studying mechanisms of stroke recovery.

PMID: 9626292