Transcutaneous activation of muscles with electrical stimulation has limited selectivity in recruiting paralyzed muscles in stroke patients. However, the selectivity could be increased by the application of smaller electrodes and their appropriate positioning on the skin. We developed a method for selecting the appropriate positions of the stimulating electrodes based on electromyography (EMG)....

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE There is a need to develop strategies to enhance the beneficial effects of motor training, including use-dependent plasticity (UDP), in neurorehabilitation. Peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) modulates motor cortical excitability in healthy humans and could influence training effects in stroke patients. METHODS We compared the ability of PNS applied to the (1) arm, (2) ...

background: gait disorder is a common motor complication after stroke. studies have revealed that conventional physiotherapy cannot manage this disorder efficiently; therefore, more studies regarding efficient treatment protocols are crucial. the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of compelled weight-bearing approach on muscle activation patterns during walking in individuals w...

BACKGROUND Weakness is often profound in the contralesional hand after stroke. Relative contributions of various neural and mechanical mechanisms to this impairment, however, have not been quantified. In this study, the extent of one potential contributor, muscle atrophy, was noninvasively assessed in index finger musculature using ultrasonographic techniques. METHODS Twenty-five stroke survi...

Despite the importance of the thumb to hand function, little is known about the origins of thumb impairment poststroke. Accordingly, the primary purpose of this study was to assess whether thumb flexors have heightened stretch reflexes (SRs) following stroke-induced hand impairment. The secondary purpose was to compare SR characteristics of thumb flexors in relation to those of finger flexors s...

Adequate grip force modulation is critical to manual dexterity and often impaired in hemiparetic stroke patients. Previous studies in hemiparetic patients suggest that aspects of grip force control may be differently affected by the lesion. We developed a visuomotor power grip force-tracking task allowing quantification of tracking error, force variability and release duration. We investigated ...

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to investigate the descending neural drive to ankle muscles during gait in stroke patients using a coherence analysis of surface electromyographic (EMG) recordings and the relationships of the drive with clinical functions. METHODS EMG recordings of the paired tibialis anterior (TA), medial and lateral gastrocnemius (MG and LG), and TA-LG muscles were...