Clinical Trials of Mirror Box Therapy

Mirror box therapy has been found to be highly effective in both small clinical trials (McCabe et al 2003a) and placebo controlled cross over studies on 48 patients (Caccio et al 2009).  After four weeks of therapy for 30-60 minutes each day, the 24 subjects on mirror box therapy all showed substantial decrement in pain (from 8.1 to 5.6 on a 10 point visual scale) whereas the 24 subjects on non-reflecting mirrors showed either no decrease or slight increase in pain. These results are especially important because most treatments for RSD are largely ineffective and because of the the fact that mirror box therapy is inexpensive, non-invasive, and can be self administered at home. A recent meta-analysis by Dohle also confirms its efficacy and clinical utility (Dohle et al 2008).

Cacchio et. al. (2009) Mirror Therapy in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Type 1 of the Upper Limb in Stroke Patients

Dohle et. al. (2008) Mirror Therapy Promotes Recovery From Severe Hemiparesis: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Broken Windows Theory of Autism Explored by Dr. Enticott's New Research

The recent study by Dr. Peter Enticott et al. found a diminished activation of the mirror neuron system amongst individuals with autism spectrum disorders. In their new study, Dr. Peter Enticott at Monash University and his colleagues used transcranial magnetic stimulation to stimulate the brains of individuals with ASD and healthy individuals while they observed different hand gestures.  This allowed the researchers to measure the activity of each individual's mirror neuron system with millisecond precision in response to each observed action.  


They found that the individuals with ASD showed a blunted brain response to stimulation of the motor cortex when viewing a transitive hand gesture. In other words, the mirror neuron system in the ASD individuals became less activated when watching the gestures, compared to the healthy group. In addition, among people with ASD, less mirror neuron activity was associated with greater social impairments. This finding adds to the evidence that deficits in mirror neuron system functioning contribute to the social deficits in ASD.