18 CHAPTER 1 Aims & Outline This thesis has two main aims: 1. to determine whether cerebral alterations are involved in NA patients with residual complaints after peripheral nerve injury; 2. to determine the effect of specific multidisciplinary rehabilitation on clinical outcome and cerebral mechanisms; The Background of the work described in this thesis is captured in Chapter 1, this General Introduction, and chapter 2. Chapter 2 further elaborates on the rationale, concepts and aims at the centre of this thesis and provides a detailed description of the design, patient population, materials and methods of the subsequent chapters. It describes the NA-CONTROL study: the randomized controlled trial investigating the effects of our specific rehabilitation program on recovery from peripheral nerve injury in NA. Figure 4 Treatment model The treatment model includes the different components that are addressed during the specific rehabilitation program. Occupational therapy focusses on the issues in the two outer rings (External Factors, Activities). The main focus of the physical therapy is on improving body functions. The remaining components are addressed throughout both types of therapy. Where needed, multidisciplinary approaches are employed. *Reproduced, with permission, from IJspeert et al. NeuroRehabilitation 2013; 3;657-66651
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