Congenital mirror movement disorder
Last updated 19 May 2025
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Congenital mirror movement disorder is a condition in which intentional movements of one side of the body are mirrored by involuntary movements of the other side. For example, when an affected individual makes a fist with the right hand, the left hand makes a similar movement. The mirror movements in people with this disorder primarily affect the arms, and the hands and fingers are always involved. This pattern of movements is present from infancy or early childhood and usually persists throughout a person's life.
Description
Congenital mirror movement disorder is a condition in which intentional movements of one side of the body are mirrored by involuntary movements of the other side. For example, when an affected individual makes a fist with the right hand, the left hand makes a similar movement. The mirror movements in people with this disorder primarily affect the arms, and the hands and fingers are always involved. This pattern of movements is present from infancy or early childhood and usually persists throughout a person's life.
People with congenital mirror movement disorder can have some difficulty with certain daily activities, particularly with those that require different movements in each hand, such as typing on a keyboard. They may experience discomfort or pain in their arms during prolonged use of the hands.
The extent of the mirror movements in people with congenital mirror movement disorder can vary, even within the same family. In most cases, the involuntary movements are noticeable but less pronounced than the corresponding voluntary movements. The extent of the movements typically stay the same throughout the lifetime of an affected individual.
In general, mirror movements are the only feature associated with this condition. In some cases, however, people with congenital mirror movement disorder can have partial or complete absence (agenesis) of the tissue that connects the left and right halves of the brain (corpus callosum).
Mirror movements can also occur in people who do not have congenital mirror movement disorder. Mild mirror movements are common during the normal development of young children, and they typically disappear before age 7. They can also develop later in life in people with neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease. Mirror movements may also be present in people with certain conditions that have a wider range of signs and symptoms (syndromes).
Inheritance patterns
The source lists the following possible inheritance patterns: Autosomal recessive; Autosomal dominant+1 affected parent. More than one pattern can apply in different cases.
Related genes
Other names
CMM
Congenital mirror movements
Familial congenital controlateral synkinesia
Familial congenital mirror movements
Hereditary congenital controlateral synkinesia
Hereditary congenital mirror movements
Isolated congenital controlateral synkinesia
Isolated congenital mirror movements
Mirror movements 1
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Further reading and references
- Congenital mirror movement disorder; MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine.
- Depienne C, Bouteiller D, Meneret A, Billot S, Groppa S, Klebe S, Charbonnier-Beaupel F, Corvol JC, Saraiva JP, Brueggemann N, Bhatia K, Cincotta M, Brochard V, Flamand-Roze C, Carpentier W, Meunier S, Marie Y, Gaussen M, Stevanin G, Wehrle R, Vidailhet M, Klein C, Dusart I, Brice A, Roze E. RAD51 haploinsufficiency causes congenital mirror movements in humans. Am J Hum Genet. 2012 Feb 10;90(2):301-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2011.12.002. Epub 2012 Feb 2.
- Depienne C, Cincotta M, Billot S, Bouteiller D, Groppa S, Brochard V, Flamand C, Hubsch C, Meunier S, Giovannelli F, Klebe S, Corvol JC, Vidailhet M, Brice A, Roze E. A novel DCC mutation and genetic heterogeneity in congenital mirror movements. Neurology. 2011 Jan 18;76(3):260-4. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e318207b1e0.
- Franz EA, Chiaroni-Clarke R, Woodrow S, Glendining KA, Jasoni CL, Robertson SP, Gardner RJM, Markie D. Congenital mirror movements: phenotypes associated with DCC and RAD51 mutations. J Neurol Sci. 2015 Apr 15;351(1-2):140-145. doi: 10.1016/j.jns.2015.03.006. Epub 2015 Mar 10.
- Gallea C, Popa T, Billot S, Meneret A, Depienne C, Roze E. Congenital mirror movements: a clue to understanding bimanual motor control. J Neurol. 2011 Nov;258(11):1911-9. doi: 10.1007/s00415-011-6107-9. Epub 2011 Jun 3.
- Gallea C, Popa T, Hubsch C, Valabregue R, Brochard V, Kundu P, Schmitt B, Bardinet E, Bertasi E, Flamand-Roze C, Alexandre N, Delmaire C, Meneret A, Depienne C, Poupon C, Hertz-Pannier L, Cincotta M, Vidailhet M, Lehericy S, Meunier S, Roze E. RAD51 deficiency disrupts the corticospinal lateralization of motor control. Brain. 2013 Nov;136(Pt 11):3333-46. doi: 10.1093/brain/awt258. Epub 2013 Sep 20.
- Klar AJ. Selective chromatid segregation mechanism invoked for the human congenital mirror hand movement disorder development by RAD51 mutations: a hypothesis. Int J Biol Sci. 2014 Sep 10;10(9):1018-23. doi: 10.7150/ijbs.9886. eCollection 2014.
- Meneret A, Depienne C, Riant F, Trouillard O, Bouteiller D, Cincotta M, Bitoun P, Wickert J, Lagroua I, Westenberger A, Borgheresi A, Doummar D, Romano M, Rossi S, Defebvre L, De Meirleir L, Espay AJ, Fiori S, Klebe S, Quelin C, Rudnik-Schoneborn S, Plessis G, Dale RC, Sklower Brooks S, Dziezyc K, Pollak P, Golmard JL, Vidailhet M, Brice A, Roze E. Congenital mirror movements: mutational analysis of RAD51 and DCC in 26 cases. Neurology. 2014 Jun 3;82(22):1999-2002. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000000477. Epub 2014 May 7.
- Meneret A, Trouillard O, Dunoyer M, Depienne C, Roze E. Congenital Mirror Movements. 2015 Mar 12 [updated 2020 Sep 24]. In: Adam MP, Bick S, Mirzaa GM, Wallace SE, Amemiya A, editors. GeneReviews(R) [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993-2026. Available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279760/
- Peng J, Charron F. Lateralization of motor control in the human nervous system: genetics of mirror movements. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2013 Feb;23(1):109-18. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2012.08.007. Epub 2012 Sep 16.
- Srour M, Riviere JB, Pham JM, Dube MP, Girard S, Morin S, Dion PA, Asselin G, Rochefort D, Hince P, Diab S, Sharafaddinzadeh N, Chouinard S, Theoret H, Charron F, Rouleau GA. Mutations in DCC cause congenital mirror movements. Science. 2010 Apr 30;328(5978):592. doi: 10.1126/science.1186463.
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