Motor Imagery for Reach-to-grasp Rehabilitation After Tetraplegia

Intervention consisted of supervised MI during which the participants were trained to imagine performing a single-joint wrist extension movement and a multiple-joint reach-to-grasp movement using tenodesis. The two movements were practiced in separate blocks and each 45 minute MI session consisted of six to eight blocks. Within a given block patients; i) performed the movement once, ii) imagined it using visual imagery (between five and ten repetitions), iii) performed the movement again, and iv) imagined it using kinesthetic imagery (between five and ten repetitions). All movements (performed and imagined) were timed by the experimenter to ensure that the durations of both imagined and physically practiced movements were similar. Imagery vividness was controlled with self-rated assessments using a visual analogic scale (from 0, the image or feeling was absent, to 10 when it was as clear or intense as physical practice).