Abstract
Objective.
The aim of this study was to investigate: (1) the effects of a stroke
on motor imagery vividness as measured by the Kinesthetic and Visual
Imagery Questionnaire (KVIQ-20); (2) the influence of the lesion side;
and (3) the symmetry of motor imagery.
Methods. Thirty-two
persons who had sustained a stroke, in the right (n = 19) or left (n =
13) cerebral hemisphere, and 32 age-matched healthy persons
participated. The KVIQ-20 assesses on a 5-point ordinal scale the
clarity of the image (visual scale) and the intensity of the sensations
(kinesthetic scale) that the subjects are able to imagine from the
first-person perspective.
Results. In both groups, the visual scores were higher (P
= .0001) than the kinesthetic scores and there was no group difference.
Likewise, visual scores remained higher than kinesthetic scores
irrespective of the lesion side. The visual scores post stroke were
higher (P = .001) when imagining upper limb movements on the
unaffected side than those on the affected side. When focusing on the
lower limb only, however, the kinesthetic scores were higher (P = .001) when imagining movements of the unaffected compared to those on the affected side.
Conclusions.
The vividness of motor imagery poststroke remains similar to that of
age-matched healthy persons and is not affected by the side of the
lesion. However, after stroke motor imagery is not symmetrical and motor
imagery vividness is better when imagining movements on the unaffected
than on the affected side, indicating an overestimation possibly related
to a hemispheric imbalance or a recalibration of motor imagery
perception.
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