Laterality reconstruction
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Quite often, people with painful limb problems lose the ability to recognise left or right images which can obstruct a successful recovery. The good news is the brain is plastic, and changeable, if given the right stimuli for long enough. So with a little bit of work, patience and persistence it is possible to reconstruct the brain’s feature of laterality, which would have existed prior to the limb problem.
Motor imagery
| Around 25 percent of the neurons in your brain are called ‘Mirror Neurons’ and are activated when you watch someone else moving or think of performing an action. Motor Imagery is the process where you observe others’ actions or positions and copy them in your head without actually moving. The brain is being exercised and re-trained with no motion required.
This is an everyday habit and you do it all the time without realising. But make an effort to do it more often. While sitting on the bus or at a restaurant, for example, you will see different people with limbs in different, even strange positions that you could mentally put yourself into.
Recognise™ flash cards and Recognise™ Online provide images and videos in awkward, various, and at times compromising positions or contexts which apply a higher level of distraction, requiring greater concentration and stimulation.
Mirror therapy
| Mirror therapy is the use of a mirror to present the reverse image of a body part limb to the brain. It is also the final stage of Graded Motor Imagery because there is evidence that mirror therapy will be more effective if your sense of laterality is intact – read about Recognise™ Flashcards and Recognise™ Online for more information.
By using a mirror, you can trick the brain into believing that an injured part is actually okay, providing a powerful synaptic exercise. For example, if the left hand was a problem, it could be hidden behind the mirror. And by using the mirror image of the right hand and concentrating on the mirror image, the brain would construct that the left hand was now somehow okay. It is a way of signaling to the brain that ‘the hand is fine, it’s now time to represent it properly and look after it.’
Neuro Orthopaedic Institute |
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