Citation

Schaal DW. Behav. Anal. 2012; 35(2): 153-154.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Midwestern Association of Behavior Analysis)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article presents an introduction to "The Behavior-Analytic Origins of Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy: An Example of Behavioral Neurorehabilitation," by Edward Taub and his colleagues (Taub, 2012). Based on extensive experimentation with animal models of peripheral nerve injury, Taub and colleagues have created an approach to overcoming movement and verbal behavior disorders in patients who have suffered strokes that is a model for behavior analysts who are interested in helping people with brain disease and injury. Central to the method, called "constraint-induced movement therapy" (CIMT), is the concept of learned nonuse; according to this concept, the initial disruption of movement caused by stroke creates a situation in which attempts to use the limb are either ineffective (extinction) or, by upsetting or breaking objects or causing pain or embarrassment, are punished. The author stresses that Taub's work is not only a demonstration of the power of behavior analysis against the devastating behavioral consequences of brain damage due to stroke. It is also an invitation to behavior analysts to continue to explore opportunities to make a difference in the lives of persons with nervous system disorders, such as traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, childhood genetic disorders, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, infectious diseases, chronic pain, epilepsy, and even brain tumors.

Language: en