Cortical reorganization after motor stroke: A pilot study on differences between the upper and lower limbs

Abstract

Stroke patients suffering from hemiparesis may show substantial recovery in the first months poststroke due to neural reorganization. While reorganization driving improvement of upper hand motor function has been frequently investigated, much less is known about the changes underlying recovery of lower limb function. We, therefore, investigated neural network dynamics giving rise to movements of both the hands and feet in 12 well‐recovered left‐hemispheric chronic stroke patients and 12 healthy participants using a functional magnetic resonance imaging sparse sampling design and dynamic causal modeling (DCM). We found that the level of neural activity underlying movements of the affected right hand and foot positively correlated with residual motor impairment, in both ipsilesional and contralesional premotor as well as left primary motor (M1) regions. Furthermore, M1 representations of the affected limb showed significantly stronger increase in BOLD activity compared to healthy controls and compared to the respective other limb. DCM revealed reduced endogenous connectivity of M1 of both limbs in patients compared to controls. However, when testing for the specific effect of movement on interregional connectivity, interhemispheric inhibition of the contralesional M1 during movements of the affected hand was not detected in patients whereas no differences in condition‐dependent connectivity were found for foot movements compared to controls. In contrast, both groups featured positive interhemispheric M1 coupling, that is, facilitation of neural activity, mediating movements of the affected foot. These exploratory findings help to explain why functional recovery of the upper and lower limbs often develops differently after stroke, supporting limb‐specific rehabilitative strategies.

Robot-Assisted Bimanual Training Improves Hand Function in Patients With Subacute Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

“…Hand function is particularly relevant for activities of daily living; hand dysfunction seriously affects stroke survivors' quality of life and activities of daily life, such as dressing and eating ( 4 – 6 ). Previous studies showed that the recovery of motor function in the upper limb is slower than that in the lower limb in most patients ( 7 , 8 ). Rehabilitation in the distal part of the upper limb is more challenging than that in the proximal part, due to the high dexterity and degrees of freedom and has a larger coverage in the cortex ( 9 , 10 ).…”

Contralaterally controlled neuromuscular electrical stimulation-induced changes in functional connectivity in patients with stroke assessed using functional near-infrared spectroscopy

“…Recovery of motor function after stroke is tightly linked to the process of reorganization of the motor system in the ipsilesional and contralesional hemisphere (Binder et al, 2021 ; Paul et al, 2021 ). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study using the fNIRS approach to evaluate cerebral functional changes in stroke patients treated with CCNMES.…”

Targeting CNS Neural Mechanisms of Gait in Stroke Neurorehabilitation

“…With neural damage in the ipsilesional hemisphere, the contralesional inhibitory signals may further weaken muscle activation processes. This transcallosal interaction after stroke is complex and is likely dependent on the degree of damage to the corticospinal tract [ 29 ].…”