Mirror Therapy for Phantom Limb Pain

Study Summary

This study, conducted at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), will explore the phenomenon of phantom limb pain (a continued feeling of pain in an amputated limb) and will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the effect of mirror therapy on phantom limb pain. Right-handed people between 18 and 75 years of age who are in the WRAMC Military Amputee Research Program and healthy control subjects may be eligible for this study. Participants undergo the following procedures: Amputees * Questionnaires to assess strength of handedness and footedness and pain perception. * Mirror therapy for phantom limb pain five times a week for 4 weeks in 15-minute sessions. * MRI and fMRI scans before starting mirror therapy, after 2 weeks of therapy and after 4 weeks of therapy. MRI uses a magnetic field and radio waves to image brain tissue. The subject lies on a table that can slide in and out of the scanner (a metal cylinder). The structural MRI scan lasts about 30 minutes. For fMRI, the subject performs tasks while in the scanner in order to show changes in brain activity involved in performing those tasks. Subjects are shown pictures of feet and other body parts, are asked to move their feet, and receive tactile (touch) stimulation of the foot or other body parts. Control Subjects One group of control subjects undergoes a single fMRI procedure. A second group of control subjects undergoes the same sequence of three fMRIs over the same time period as the amputee subjects. None of the control subjects undergo mirror therapy. ...