Our main tenet argues that the primary role of positive thymic selection and the resulting T cell population is the maintenance of a homeostatic equilibrium with self MHC-self peptide complexes. The homeostatic T cell repertoire can recognize infections non-specifically and this is an indirect (negative) recognition: the whole homeostatic T cell population together “holds a mirror” to the whole...

Extended viewing of movements of the intact hand in a mirror as well as motor imagery has been shown to decrease pain in phantom pain patients. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess the neural correlates of mirrored, imagined and executed hand movements in 14 upper extremity amputees - 7 with phantom limb pain (PLP) and 7 without phantom limb pain (non-PLP) and 9 healthy contr...

How are body representations updated when we perform joint rhythmic actions, such as when a jazz player synchronizes with other musicians in the ensemble? We investigated this question using a continuous tapping task where musicians and non-musicians were instructed to imitate bimanual hand movements presented in the egocentric and the mirror orientation. The observed movements increased in tem...

BACKGROUND Mirror therapy (MT) is a promising therapeutic approach in stroke patients with severe hand paresis. OBJECTIVE The ipsilateral (contralesional) primary sensorimotor cortex (SMC) and the mirror neuron system have been suggested to play decisive roles in the MT network. The present study investigated its underlying neural plasticity. METHODS Two groups of healthy participants (n = ...

The contralesional primary motor cortex (M1) has been suggested to be involved in the motor recovery after mirror therapy, but whether the ipsilesional M1 is influenced by the contralesional M1 via transcallosal interhemispheric inhibition (IHI) is still unclear. The present study investigated the change of IHI as well as the intracortical inhibition and intracortical facilitation of both M1 in...

mirror movement is an interesting but often overlooked neurological soft sign;these movements are described as simultaneous contralateral, involuntary, identical movements that accompany voluntary movements. this neurologic problem is very rarely seen in children; in familial cases there is a positive history of these movements in parents, diminishing with time. here, we have presented the case...

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of mirror therapy on upper-extremity function and activities of daily living in chronic stroke patients. [Subjects and Methods] Fifteen subjects were each assigned to a mirror therapy group and a sham therapy group. The Fugl-Meyer Motor Function Assessment and the Box and Block Test were performed to compare paretic upper-extremity function a...

BACKGROUND Psychologically, females are usually thought to be superior in interpersonal sensitivity than males. The human mirror-neuron system is considered to provide the basic mechanism for social cognition. However, whether the human mirror-neuron system exhibits gender differences is not yet clear. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We measured the electroencephalographic mu rhythm, as a reli...

Objective: To evaluate the effects of mirror therapy on pper-extremity motor recovery, spasticity, and hand-related unctioning of inpatients with subacute stroke. Design: Randomized, controlled, assessor-blinded, 4-week rial, with follow-up at 6 months. Setting: Rehabilitation education and research hospital. Participants: A total of 40 inpatients with stroke (mean age, 3.2y), all within 12 mon...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of mirror therapy on upper-extremity motor recovery, spasticity, and hand-related functioning of inpatients with subacute stroke. DESIGN Randomized, controlled, assessor-blinded, 4-week trial, with follow-up at 6 months. SETTING Rehabilitation education and research hospital. PARTICIPANTS A total of 40 inpatients with stroke (mean age, 63.2y), all within ...