Mirror Therapy Integrated With Electrical Stimulation for Cortical Modulations

NCT06209801 | Active Not Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 202301500A3
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 32
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

Peripheral nerve injury is common and can result in loss of sensation and motor function, reduced quality of life, and prolonged time to return to work. Maladaptive cortical reorganization occurs after nerve injury or immobilization and can further impair the recovery process. To improve the sensorimotor prognosis of people with peripheral nerve injury, methods such as mirror therapy, motor imagery, and electrical stimulation have been used in addition to usual care. However, no studies have shown the effect of integrating mirror therapy, motor imagery, and electrical stimulation in these individuals. Furthermore, the real-time effect of mirror therapy on cortical activation in this population remains unexplored. This study aims to determine the real-time cortical modulation effects of mirror therapy combined with electrical stimulation in individuals with peripheral nerve injury.

Conditions

Peripheral Nerve Injuries

Keywords

mirror therapy; electrical stimulation; cortical modulation; motor imagery

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Relative alpha-band power in sensorimotor cortex

  Expressed as a percentage

  10 minutes after the intervention

• Relative beta-band power in sensorimotor cortex

  Expressed as a percentage

  10 minutes after the intervention

Study Arms (2)

Experimental group

EXPERIMENTAL

Individuals with peripheral nerve injuries

Behavioral: Mirror therapy; Device: Neuromuscular electrical stimulation; Behavioral: Motor imagery

Control group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Healthy individuals

Behavioral: Mirror therapy; Device: Neuromuscular electrical stimulation; Behavioral: Motor imagery

Interventions

Mirror therapy BEHAVIORAL

60 seconds of intervention

Control group; Experimental group

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation DEVICE

60 seconds of intervention

Control group; Experimental group

Motor imagery BEHAVIORAL

60 seconds of intervention

Control group; Experimental group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 20 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• newly diagnosed median or ulnar nerve transection injury of the forearm in the past 6 months
• sufficient communication in the Chinese language
• being able to follow instructions
• muscle atrophy or lack of voluntary contraction over the injured hand, with maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) recorded with surface electromyography (EMG) less than 10% compared to the non-affected hand
• achieve an average score of 2 or above in the Kinesthetic and Visual Imagery Questionnaire-10 (KVIQ-10) for kinesthetic imagery

You may not qualify if:

• had central nervous disease
• had a recent (1 year) history of nerve entrapment syndrome
• had a history of latent neuropathy, such as diabetes or dialysis

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Chang Gung Memorial Hospital: lead
• National Taiwan University: collaborator

Study Sites (2)

National Taiwain Univeristy, Colledge of Medicine, School and Graduate Institude of Physicl Therapy

Taipei, 100, Taiwan

Location

Chang Gung Memorial Hospital

Taoyuan District, Taiwan

Location

Related Publications (12)

• Rizzo M, Petrini L, Del Percio C, Lopez S, Arendt-Nielsen L, Babiloni C. Mirror visual feedback during unilateral finger movements is related to the desynchronization of cortical electroencephalographic somatomotor alpha rhythms. Psychophysiology. 2022 Dec;59(12):e14116. doi: 10.1111/psyp.14116. Epub 2022 Jun 3.

  PMID: 35657095 BACKGROUND

• Bello UM, Kranz GS, Winser SJ, Chan CCH. Neural Processes Underlying Mirror-Induced Visual Illusion: An Activation Likelihood Estimation Meta-Analysis. Front Hum Neurosci. 2020 Jul 31;14:276. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.00276. eCollection 2020.

  PMID: 32848663 BACKGROUND

• Binder E, Dovern A, Hesse MD, Ebke M, Karbe H, Saliger J, Fink GR, Weiss PH. Lesion evidence for a human mirror neuron system. Cortex. 2017 May;90:125-137. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.02.008. Epub 2017 Feb 24.

  PMID: 28391066 BACKGROUND

• Cengiz B, Vuralli D, Zinnuroglu M, Bayer G, Golmohammadzadeh H, Gunendi Z, Turgut AE, Irfanoglu B, Arikan KB. Analysis of mirror neuron system activation during action observation alone and action observation with motor imagery tasks. Exp Brain Res. 2018 Feb;236(2):497-503. doi: 10.1007/s00221-017-5147-5. Epub 2017 Dec 11.

  PMID: 29230518 BACKGROUND

• Scott M, Taylor S, Chesterton P, Vogt S, Eaves DL. Motor imagery during action observation increases eccentric hamstring force: an acute non-physical intervention. Disabil Rehabil. 2018 Jun;40(12):1443-1451. doi: 10.1080/09638288.2017.1300333. Epub 2017 Mar 21.

  PMID: 28322596 BACKGROUND

• Zhang JJQ, Fong KNK, Welage N, Liu KPY. The Activation of the Mirror Neuron System during Action Observation and Action Execution with Mirror Visual Feedback in Stroke: A Systematic Review. Neural Plast. 2018 Apr 24;2018:2321045. doi: 10.1155/2018/2321045. eCollection 2018.

  PMID: 29853839 BACKGROUND

• Bello UM, Winser SJ, Chan CCH. Role of kinaesthetic motor imagery in mirror-induced visual illusion as intervention in post-stroke rehabilitation. Rev Neurosci. 2020 Aug 27;31(6):659-674. doi: 10.1515/revneuro-2019-0106.

  PMID: 32229682 BACKGROUND

• Wang J, Fritzsch C, Bernarding J, Holtze S, Mauritz KH, Brunetti M, Dohle C. A comparison of neural mechanisms in mirror therapy and movement observation therapy. J Rehabil Med. 2013 Apr;45(4):410-3. doi: 10.2340/16501977-1127.

  PMID: 23474778 BACKGROUND

• Yang YJ, Jeon EJ, Kim JS, Chung CK. Characterization of kinesthetic motor imagery compared with visual motor imageries. Sci Rep. 2021 Feb 12;11(1):3751. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-82241-0.

  PMID: 33580093 BACKGROUND

• Chen YH, Siow TY, Wang JY, Lin SY, Chao YH. Greater Cortical Activation and Motor Recovery Following Mirror Therapy Immediately after Peripheral Nerve Repair of the Forearm. Neuroscience. 2022 Jan 15;481:123-133. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2021.11.048. Epub 2021 Dec 5.

  PMID: 34875363 BACKGROUND

• Lu Y, Liu H, Hua X, Xu JG, Gu YD, Shen Y. Attenuation of brain grey matter volume in brachial plexus injury patients. Neurol Sci. 2016 Jan;37(1):51-56. doi: 10.1007/s10072-015-2356-1. Epub 2015 Aug 9.

  PMID: 26255300 BACKGROUND

• Saavedra-Garcia A, Moral-Munoz JA, Lucena-Anton D. Mirror therapy simultaneously combined with electrical stimulation for upper limb motor function recovery after stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Clin Rehabil. 2021 Jan;35(1):39-50. doi: 10.1177/0269215520951935. Epub 2020 Aug 24.

  PMID: 32830512 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Peripheral Nerve Injuries

Interventions

Mirror Movement Therapy

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Peripheral Nervous System Diseases; Neuromuscular Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Trauma, Nervous System; Wounds and Injuries

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Physical Therapy Modalities; Rehabilitation; Therapeutics

Study Officials

• Yueh-Hsia Chen, PhD

  National Taiwan University, School of Medicine

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 3, 2024
• First Posted: January 18, 2024
• Study Start: March 1, 2024
• Primary Completion: November 21, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2027
• Last Updated: March 23, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

TW (2)