Article

The discovery of cortical neurons responsive to both the observation of another
individual's movement and one's own physical movement has spurred scientists into
utilising this interplay for rehabilitation. The idea that humans can quickly
transfer motor programmes or refine existing motor strategies through observation
has only recently gained interest in the context of gait rehabilitation but may
offer significant promise as an adjunctive therapy to routine balance training.
This review is the first dedicated to action observation in postural control or
gait in healthy individuals and patients. The traditional use of action
observation in rehabilitation is that the observer has to carefully watch
pre-recorded or physically performed actions and thereafter imitate them. Using
this approach, previous studies have shown improved gait after action observation
in stroke, Parkinson's disease and knee or hip replacement patients. In healthy
subjects, action observation reduced postural sway from externally induced
balance perturbations. Despite this initial evidence, future studies should
establish whether patients are instructed to observe the same movement to be
trained (i.e., replicate the observed action(s)) or observe a motor error in
order to produce postural countermeasures. The best mode of motor transfer from
action observation is yet to be fully explored, and may involve observing live
motor acts rather than viewing video clips. Given the ease with which action
observation training can be applied in the home, it offers a promising, safe and
economical approach as an adjunctive therapy to routine balance training.
CI - Copyright (c) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS