CIMT (A2 Only) & Postmortem
Psychology: AQA A Level, topic 6.1.9
Constraint Induced Movement Therapy & Postmortems
Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT) is a therapy used to improve upper limb use after neurological damage such as a stroke. Post-mortem examinations are used to establish the underlying neurobiology of a particular behaviour.
What is CIMT?
- It is a form of physiotherapy which aims to encourage patients to use their weaker limb more whilst restraining the good arm by carrying out intense repetitive tasks.
- There is evidence to suggest that it ‘rewires’ the brain; so evidence to support brain plasticity after trauma.
Evaluation of CIMT
- Strengths
- Beneficial for many patients.
- Decrease in medical costs over a lifetime.
- Research based.
- Limitations
- Takes time and motivation.
- Can be painful.
- Does not work for all patients and can in fact make some worse.
What are postmortem examinations?
- Post-mortem examinations are used to establish the underlying neurobiology of a particular behaviour.
- For example, researchers may study a person who displays behaviour while they’re alive that suggests possible underlying brain damage.
- Subsequently, when the person dies, the researchers can examine their brain to look for abnormalities that might explain that behavior and which are not found in control individuals.
Evaluation of postmortems
- Strengths
- Provides an insight into brain structure.
- Generates hypotheses for further study.
- Increases medical knowledge.
- Limitations
- Causation – observed deficits maybe linked to trauma or decay rather than issue being studied.
- Ethics – consent of person before death e.g. can brain damaged patients like HM give informed consent?