Mental Practice in Chronic, Stroke Induced Hemiparesis

Exclusion Criteria

• •\< 21 years old;
• •excessive pain in the affected hand, arm or shoulder, as measured by a score \> 5 on a 10-point visual analog scale;
• •excessive spasticity in the affected biceps, triceps, wrist, or fingers, as defined as a score of greater than or equal to 2 on the Modified Ashworth Spasticity Scale;
• •currently participating in any experimental rehabilitation or drug studies targeting UE;
• •mirrors movements(i.e., involuntary movements by the unaffected hand during attempts at unilateral movement by the stroke-affected hand during attempts at unilateral movement by the stroke-affected hand);
• •history of parietal stroke (because some data suggest that ability to estimate manual motor performance through mental imagery is disturbed after parietal lobe damage);
• •affected arm joint restriction that in the opinion of the investigator would hinder study participation