Motor-improvement following intensive training in low-functioning chronic hemiparesis.

Constraint-induced movement therapy can improve chronic hemiparesis, but this technique has proven difficult to transfer into clinical practice. The authors studied the benefits of a modified regimen designed to be applicable in the clinical environment. Affected arm movements were trained for 90 min/d for 3 weeks using the learning principle "shaping." The outcome measures indicated a significant increase in performance after the intervention compared with the performance during the 3-week baseline interval.