Cognitive Training Improves Disconnected Limbs’ Mental Representation and Peripersonal Space after Spinal Cord Injury

Valentina Moro, Michela Corbella, Silvio Ionta, Federico Ferrari and Michele Scandola
Additional contact information
Valentina Moro: NPSY-Lab.VR, Human Sciences Department, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy
Michela Corbella: NPSY-Lab.VR, Human Sciences Department, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy
Silvio Ionta: Sensory-Motor Lab (SeMoLa), Department of Ophthalmology, University of Lausanne, Jules Gonin Eye Hospital-Fondation Asile des Aveugles, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Federico Ferrari: Department of Rehabilitation, IRCCS Sacro Cuore “Don Calabria” Hospital, Negrar, 37024 Verona, Italy
Michele Scandola: NPSY-Lab.VR, Human Sciences Department, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 18, 1-30

Abstract: Paraplegia following spinal cord injury (SCI) affects the mental representation and peripersonal space of the paralysed body parts (i.e., lower limbs). Physical rehabilitation programs can improve these aspects, but the benefits are mostly partial and short-lasting. These limits could be due to the absence of trainings focused on SCI-induced cognitive deficits combined with traditional physical rehabilitation. To test this hypothesis, we assessed in 15 SCI-individuals the effects of adding cognitive recovery protocols (motor imagery–MI) to standard physical rehabilitation programs (Motor + MI training) on mental body representations and space representations, with respect to physical rehabilitation alone (control training). Each training comprised at least eight sessions administered over two weeks. The status of participants’ mental body representation and peripersonal space was assessed at three time points: before the training (T0), after the training (T1), and in a follow-up assessment one month later (T2). The Motor + MI training induced short-term recovery of peripersonal space that however did not persist at T2. Body representation showed a slower neuroplastic recovery at T2, without differences between Motor and the Motor + MI. These results show that body and space representations are plastic after lesions, and open new rehabilitation perspectives.

Keywords: spinal cord injury; motor imagery; body representation; peripersonal space; rehabilitation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9589/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9589/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:18:p:9589-:d:633714

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().