Researchers from the Université de Lyon in Villeurbanne Cedex, France, investigated whether guided imagery can improve motor performance in the rehabilitation of burn patients, the way we know it does with central nervous system injury.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of a 2-week Motor Imagery (MI) training program, combined with conventional rehabilitation, on the recovery of motor functions in patients with hand burns. 

Fourteen patients admitted to the Medical Burn Center took part in the study and were randomly assigned to the imagery or the control group.  Behavioral data related to the ability to perform each successive step of three manual motor sequences were collected at five intervals during the protocol.