Mental practice to improve arm function and arm movement in people with hemiparesis (weakness or inability to move on one side of the body) after stroke. Mental practice involves repeatedly mentally rehearsing an action or task without actually physically performing the action or task. For people with hemiparesis after stroke, adding mental practice to other physical rehabilitation treatment probably improves arm function and movement and probably reduces impairment compared to treatment without mental practice (moderate-certainty evidence). However, adding mental practice may make little or no difference to activities of daily living (low-certainty evidence). Compared with conventional therapy, mental practice may make little or no difference to impairment (low-certainty evidence). There is not enough information about how mental practice otherwise compares to conventional therapy, or about effects on quality of life or economic costs. No adverse effects were reported in any of the studies.Cochrane Review (published May 2020); 25 studies with 676 people who had hemiparesis after stroke. Studies compared mental practice in addition to another treatment versus the other treatment (with or without placebo); or compared mental practice with conventional therapy.
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