Comparison of Action Observation Therapy Versus Mirror Therapy on Upper Limb Physical Performance and Quality of Life in Stroke

Stroke is a medical condition which causes the cessation of blood flow to the brain cells and results in cell death and ultimately can lead to motor disorders, perception disorders, language disorders, sensory disturbances.It is well known that stroke is the leading cause of death and one of the greatest causes of long-term motor disability in adults.The incidence of stroke is increasing day by day in low-income countries as compared to high-income countries because of the effects of not using evidence-based practice in health-related conditions in low-income countries. In the last few years, several approaches have been used for the recovery of hand dexterity after stroke. Among them, the Mirror therapy, task-oriented therapy, robot-assisted rehabilitation and action observation has gained greatest attention.Action observation training is one of the new developing rehabilitation technique that targets motor learning by the activation of mirror neurons and is the most important approach that targets the motor and functional recovery in stroke patients. In action observation training, the movements are produced because of the external stimuli in which actually the visual attention recruit the cerebellar-thalamic-cortical circuit of the brain. Action observation is based on activities of the motor neuron system and they discharge mostly in association with complex tasks as compared to simple tasks.