Increasing perceived hand size improves motor performance in individuals with stroke: a home-based training study

Increasing perceived hand size with magnifying lenses improves tactile discrimination and induces changes in action performance. We previously demonstrated that motor skills (tested with grip force, finger tapping, and a reach to grasp tasks) improved when actions were performed with magnified compa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PeerJ (San Francisco, CA) CA), 2019-07, Vol.7, p.e7114-e7114, Article e7114
Main Authors: Ambron, Elisabetta, Jax, Steven, Schettino, Luis, Coslett, H Branch
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Archives & records
Body representation
Grasping
Kinesiology
Magnification of vision
Motor abilities
Motor skill
Motor task performance
Neurology
Neuroscience
Neurosciences
Nursing
Rehabilitation
Stroke
Stroke rehabilitation
Tactile discrimination
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
Treatment
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Summary:Increasing perceived hand size with magnifying lenses improves tactile discrimination and induces changes in action performance. We previously demonstrated that motor skills (tested with grip force, finger tapping, and a reach to grasp tasks) improved when actions were performed with magnified compared to normal vision; twenty-eight percent of 25 participants with stroke exhibited significant improvement on a composite measure of motor performance with magnification as compared to a session without magnification. To investigate the potential implications of magnification of vision for motor rehabilitation, we recruited individuals with stroke from the original cohort who exhibited an improvement of at least 10% in grip force and/or finger tapping for a home training protocol. Six individuals with stroke completed a two-week home-based training program in which they performed a range of activities while looking at their hand magnified. Motor skills were measured before, immediately after, and two weeks after the training. Five of the six participants showed an improvement on motor tasks when tested after the training. In two participants the improvement was evident immediately after the training and persisted in time, while it occurred at two-weeks post-training in the other participants. These results suggest that the magnification of vision is a potential tool for the rehabilitation of post-stroke motor deficits.
ISSN:2167-8359
2167-8359
DOI:10.7717/peerj.7114