OBJECTIVE We investigated the training effects of interlimb force coupling training on paretic upper extremity outcomes in patients with chronic stroke and analyzed the relationship between motor recovery of the paretic hand, arm and functional performances on paretic upper limb. DESIGN A randomized controlled trial with outcome assessment at baseline and after 4 weeks of intervention. SETT...

We investigated the role of ipsilateral ascending pathways in the neural coupling underlying cooperative hand movements of stroke subjects. Ipsi- and contralateral somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP) were recorded following ulnar nerve stimulation during cooperative and non-cooperative hand movements. The amplitude ratio, that is, ipsilateral divided by contralateral amplitude, was highest d...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Functional MRI is a powerful tool to investigate recovery of brain function in patients with stroke. An inherent assumption in functional MRI data analysis is that the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal is stable over the course of the examination. In this study, we evaluated the validity of such assumption in patients with chronic stroke. METHODS Fifteen p...

OBJECTIVE The interhemispheric competition model proposes that the functional recovery of motor deficits in patients after stroke can be achieved by increasing the excitability of the affected hemisphere or decreasing the excitability of the unaffected hemisphere. We investigated whether bilateral repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation might improve the paretic hand in patients after stro...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Recovery from hemiparesis due to corticospinal tract infarction is well documented, but the mechanism of recovery is unknown. Functional MRI (fMRI) provides a means of identifying focal brain activity related to movement of a paretic hand. Although prior studies have suggested that supplementary motor regions in the ipsilesional and contralesional hemisphere play a role i...

PURPOSE To determine the clinical characteristics during acute stroke that predicted dextrous function in the paretic hand at 6 months post-stroke. METHOD Fifty-seven patients within 5 days post-stroke were recruited in stroke wards. Recovery of dextrous hand function, indicated by a score of > or =35 of Action Research Arm Test, was assessed weekly in the first 4 weeks then monthly till 6 mo...

OBJECTIVE To investigate long-latency motor evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation in congenital hemiplegia (CH) and to seek for correlation with paretic hand movement deficits. METHODS MEPs were recorded from the first dorsal interosseous of both hands in 12 CH patients and 12 age-matched controls; dexterity and upper limb function were quantitatively assessed...

OBJECTIVE To test the tactile spatial resolution in chronic unilateral brain lesions. Additionally, since sensory deficits are thought to have an impact on motor deficits, this study investigated the correlation between tactile spatial resolution and finger dexterity. DESIGN Descriptive cross-sectional study. PATIENTS Twenty-two patients with unilateral brain lesions (12 children with conge...

OBJECTIVE The inhibitory role of neuronal networks in motor recovery after stroke remains to be elucidated. We examined the influence of transcallosal inhibition and short intracortical inhibition on motor recovery after stroke. We also investigated the correlation between transcallosal inhibition and mirror activity. DESIGN A cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS Thirty-eight chronic stroke pati...