What is CIT?

We are hoping that through CIT (constraint induced therapy) Summer can form new pathways in her brain to increase the quality of movement in her right hand and arm. Summer's unaffected hand/arm will be casted on April 12, 2010 and we will commence a 3 week CIT period.

There is much to accomplish before we actually get to casting day and Summer's Physiotherapist Maureen in Toronto at Sunnybrook suggested that we diary our experience. I had planned to start the week of the casting, but we have been busy organizing so many things to coincide with the CIT, that I thought it would be valuable to capture the information for future use.

CIT is a form of therapy that helps stroke and Central Nervous System damage victims regain the use of affected limbs. The focus of CIT 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 at 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.

Neuroplasticity (also referred to as brain plasticity, cortical plasticity or cortical re-mapping) is the changing of neurons, the organization of their networks, and their function via new experiences.

We know that the 'years before five last the rest of our lives' and the brain is most 'plastic'during these years. We hope this contributes to a successful CIT period.