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Review
. 2021 Sep 20:12:736115.
doi: 10.3389/fneur.2021.736115. eCollection 2021.

Mirror Movements in Acquired Neurological Disorders: A Mini-Review

Ping Liu  1 , Yuan Yuan  1 , Ning Zhang  2 , Xiaoyan Liu  1 , Lihua Yu  1 , Benyan Luo  1
Affiliations
Review

Mirror Movements in Acquired Neurological Disorders: A Mini-Review

Ping Liu et al. Front Neurol. .

Abstract

Mirror movements (MMs) are specifically defined as involuntary movements occurring on one side of homologous muscles when performing unilateral movements with the contralateral limb. MMs have been considered a kind of soft neurological signs, and the persistence or reappearance of MMs in adults is usually pathologic. In addition to some congenital syndrome, MMs have been also described in age-related neurological diseases including pyramidal system diseases (e.g., stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and extrapyramidal disorders (e.g., Parkinson's disease, essential tremor). With the advances in instrumentation and detection means, subtle or subclinical MMs have been deeply studied. Furthermore, the underlying mechanism is also being further elucidated. In this mini-review, we firstly discuss the MM examination means, and then review the literature regarding MMs in individuals with acquired neurological disorders, in order to further understand the pathogenesis of MMs.

Keywords: acquired neurological disorders; mirror activity; mirror movements; motor evoked potential; transcranial magnetic stimulation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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