A New Neurorehabilitative Postsurgery Intervention for Facial Palsy Based on Smile Observation and Hand-Mouth Motor Synergies

Figure 1

Modified from Ferrari et al. [21]: FIT-SAT theoretical assumptions. (a) FIT combined action observation with the direct effects of action execution suggesting that activation of motor areas by action observation becomes reinforced by the concomitant active execution of the observed actions¹⁹; (b) the synergistic activity of hand closing while smiling should facilitate the activation of the cortical areas connected to the mouth. We hypothesized that hand contraction would facilitate the recruitment of the gracilis muscle as a consequence of the activity of mouth motor neurons in motor cortical areas.

(a)

(b)