Department of Psychology, Universitá degli studi di Milano Bicocca, piazza Ateneo Nuovo, Milano, Italy.
Restor Neurol Neurosci. 2013;31(4):373-86. doi: 10.3233/RNN-120273.
The mirror box (MB) was developed in the early 1990 s to relieve phantom limb sensations and chronic pain. Although its efficacy has been shown in several clinical populations, the mechanisms underpinning effects still have to be fully understood.
48 healthy subjects participated in 4 behavioral experiments where kinesthetic sensitivity of the hand inside the MB was tested during the observation of mirror-reflected finger movements, executed with the hand outside the MB.
We identified two effects on the hand hidden inside the MB: diminished kinesthetic sensitivity for passive movements, and the occurrence of unconscious, involuntary movements with the finger inside the box, suggesting reduced motor awareness. Such sensory-motor effects were somatotopically specific to the finger moved, were influenced by the contextual presence of the whole hand in the mirror, and occurred for both active and passive movements of the hand outside the MB.
The present results suggest that the MB induce a somatotopically and contextually specific overriding of kinesthetic control by vision, compatible with a process of embodiment of the mirror-reflected hand image and provide novel clues to the understanding of the mechanisms underlying MB effects.
镜像盒（MB）于 20 世纪 90 年代初开发，用于缓解幻肢感觉和慢性疼痛。尽管它在几个临床人群中已显示出疗效，但仍需要充分了解其作用机制。
48 名健康受试者参加了 4 项行为学实验，在观察 MB 外手部执行的镜像手指运动时，测试了 MB 内手部的动觉敏感性。
我们在隐藏在 MB 内的手上发现了两种影响：被动运动时动觉敏感性降低，以及手指在盒子内无意识、不由自主的运动，表明运动意识降低。这种感觉运动效应与所移动的手指具有躯体特异性，受到整个手在镜子中存在的上下文的影响，并且发生在 MB 外手部的主动和被动运动中。
本研究结果表明，MB 通过视觉引起了对动觉控制的躯体特异性和上下文特异性覆盖，与镜像反射手图像的体现过程一致，并为理解 MB 效应的机制提供了新的线索。
