Article

OBJECTIVE: To observe the real-time muscle activity of bilateral hands while
subjects draw circles under 2 conditions: with and without using Ramachandran's
mirror-box. SUBJECTS:
A total of 24 healthy volunteers. METHODS: Subjects drew 4
circles sequentially using their dominant hand with the other hand at rest, both
with and without looking at a mirror image. Circles were marked by 8 dots on the
paper, which subjects connected up to draw the shape. The activity of the
bilateral first dorsal interosseus muscles was recorded using surface
electromyography. RESULTS: Muscle activity of the dominant hand remained constant
during each task. In contrast, muscle activity of the non-dominant hand increased
under the condition of watching the image in the mirror, but was low under the
non-watching condition. Furthermore, muscle activity of the non-dominant hand
increased over the duration of the task. However, wide variation between subjects
was observed under the mirror-image condition. CONCLUSION: Increased muscle
action potential of the non-dominant hand may be induced by the circle drawing
task of the dominant hand during Ramachandran's mirror-box therapy, which
supports previous observations of increased brain activity caused by watching a
mirror image.

Langue : ANGLAIS