Effect of motor imagery therapy on cognitive function of patients with stroke

Objective To explore the rehabilitation effect of motor imagery therapy on cognitive function of stroke patients.  Methods A total of 99 stroke patients with mild to moderate cognitive dysfunction were randomly divided into 3 groups: control group (N = 33), cognitive training group (N = 33) and motor imagery training group (N = 33). All patients received conventional rehabilitation training. Before and after 8-week training, all subjects were assessed with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). At the same time, event-related potential (ERP) was examined to detect P300 latency and amplitude.   Results ompared with before training, MMSE ( P = 0.000) and MoCA ( P = 0.000) scores were significantly increased, P300 latency was shortened ( P = 0.000) and P300 amplitude was increased ( P = 0.000) in 3 groups after 8 - week training. There were significant differences among 3 groups on MMSE ( P = 0.030) and MoCA ( P = 0.013) scores, P300 latency ( P = 0.004) and P300 amplitude ( P = 0.009) before and after training. Among them, cognitive training group and motor imagery training group had significantly higher MMSE ( P = 0.019, 0.021) and MoCA ( P = 0.003, 0.031) scores, shorter P300 latency ( P = 0.020, 0.003) and higher P300 amplitude ( P = 0.003, 0.002) than control group.  Conclusions Motor imagery training can not only improve motor function of stroke patients, but also improve their cognitive function. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2017.06.005