Constraint-induced movement therapy

Constraint-induced movement therapy (CI or CIMT) is a form of therapy that helps stroke and Central Nervous System damage victims regain the use of affected limbs.

The focus of CI lies with forcing the patient to use the affected limb by restraining the unaffected one. The affected limb is then used intensively for either three or six hours a day for at least two weeks. As a result of the patient engaging in repetitive exercises with the affected limb, the brain grows new neural pathways.

CI was developed by Dr. Edward Taub of the University of Alabama in Birmingham. Taub argues that, after a stroke, the patient stops using the affected limb because they are discouraged by the difficulty. As a result, a process that Taub calls "learned non-use" sets in, furthering the deterioration. It is this process that CI seeks to reverse.

Practitioners say that stroke victims disabled for many years have recovered the use of their limbs using CI. The American Stroke Association has written that Taub's therapy is "at the forefront of a revolution" in what is regarded possible in terms of recovery for stroke survivors.