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Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2020 May 17. Epub 2020 May 17.

Division of Biokinesology and Physical Therapy, University of Southern California.

Objective: To adapt the Reaching Performance Scale for Stroke (RPSS) for the Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT) "Lift Can" (Can) and "Hand to Box" (Box) items.

Design: Retrospective analysis of video-recorded WMFT assessment performed by three raters on two occasions; SETTING: N/A; PARTICIPANTS: 29 participants with mild to moderate upper extremity impairment, <3 months post stroke INTERVENTIONS: N/A MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Inter- and intra-rater agreement, concurrent validity of Wolf Motor Function Test-Reaching Performance Scale for Stroke (WMFT-RPSS) RESULTS: Mean (SD) inter-rater Gwet's agreement coefficient (AC) was 0.61 (0. Read More

Neurorehabil Neural Repair 2020 May 20:1545968320921825. Epub 2020 May 20.

UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.

. Rodent models of stroke impairment should capture translatable features of behavioral injury. This study characterized poststroke impairment of motor precision separately from strength in an automated behavioral assay. Read More

Brain Sci 2020 May 15;10(5). Epub 2020 May 15.

Graduate School of Health Science, Kio University, Kitakaturagi-gun, Nara 635-0832, Japan.

Post-stroke sensorimotor deficits impair voluntary movements. This impairment may alter a person's sense of agency, which is the awareness of controlling one's actions. A previous study showed that post-stroke patients incorrectly aligned themselves with others' movements and proposed that their misattributions might be associated with their sensorimotor deficits. Read More

J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 2020 May 19:271678X20921310. Epub 2020 May 19.

CREATIS, CNRS UMR-5220, INSERM U1206, Université Lyon 1, INSA Lyon Bât. Blaise Pascal, Villeurbanne, France.

Stroke is a devastating disease. Endovascular mechanical thrombectomy is dramatically changing the management of acute ischemic stroke, raising new challenges regarding brain outcome and opening up new avenues for brain protection. In this context, relevant experiment models are required for testing new therapies and addressing important questions about infarct progression despite successful recanalization, reversibility of ischemic lesions, blood-brain barrier disruption and reperfusion damage. Read More

Orv Hetil 2020 05;161(21):873-880

Általános Orvostudományi Kar, I. Gyermekgyógyászati Klinika, Neonatológiai Tanszéki Csoport,Semmelweis Egyetem Budapest, Bókay János u. 53-54., 1083.

Introduction, aim: Quality control of patient documentation for cerebral palsy (CP) at Semmelweis University.

Method: In our retrospective audit, we revised patient records for all children born between 2005 and 2015, with suspected CP, registering 673 cases with confirmed CP. Based on the available patient data, we assessed clinical and etiological classification of CP and data availability. Read More

Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol 2020 May 18:1-7. Epub 2020 May 18.

Faculty of Medicine, School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

Motor recovery of the upper limb (UL) is related to exercise intensity, defined as movement repetitions divided by minutes in active therapy, and task difficulty. However, the degree to which UL training in virtual reality (VR) applications deliver intense and challenging exercise and whether these factors are considered in different centres for people with different sensorimotor impairment levels is not evidenced. We determined if (1) a VR programme can deliver high UL exercise intensity in people with sub-acute stroke across different environments and (2) exercise intensity and difficulty differed among patients with different levels of UL sensorimotor impairment. Read More

Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2020 May 14. Epub 2020 May 14.

Casa Cura Policlinico, Department of Neurorehabilitation Sciences, Milan, Italy.

Objective: To analyze the nature of the interaction between motor and language recovery in patients with motor impairment and aphasia following left-hemispheric stroke and to investigate prognostic factors of best recovery i.e. the significant recovery of both functions simultaneously. Read More

Brain Connect 2020 May 15. Epub 2020 May 15.

Paul Sabatier University, 27091, ToNIC, Toulouse NeuroImaging Center, Inserm1214, Toulouse, France;

Background Stroke is known to cause widespread activation and connectivity changes resulting in different levels of functional impairment. Recovery of motor functions is thought to rely mainly on reorganizations within the sensorimotor cortex but increasing attention is being paid to other cerebral regions Objective To investigate the motor task-related functional connectivity (FC) of the ipsilesional premotor cortex and its relation to residual motor output after stroke in poorly recovered patients. Methods 24 stroke patients with varying levels of motor deficits underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing different motor tasks (passive mobilization, motor execution and motor imagery of an extension movement of the unaffected (UH) or paretic hand (AH). Read More

Front Hum Neurosci 2020 29;14:154. Epub 2020 Apr 29.

Laboratoire Angevin de Recherche en Ingénierie des Systèmes (LARIS) EA7315, Université d'Angers, Polytech Angers, Angers, France.

Functional MRI is increasingly being used in the assessment of brain activation and connectivity following stroke. Many of these studies rely on the Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) contrast. However, the stability, as well as the accuracy of the BOLD response to motor task in the ipsilesional hemisphere, remains ambiguous. Read More

Biomed Eng Online 2020 May 14;19(1):33. Epub 2020 May 14.

Bertarelli Foundation Chair in Translational Neuroengineering, Center for Neuroprosthetics and Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Background: In the past years, robotic systems have become increasingly popular in upper limb rehabilitation. Nevertheless, clinical studies have so far not been able to confirm superior efficacy of robotic therapy over conventional methods. The personalization of robot-aided therapy according to the patients' individual motor deficits has been suggested as a pivotal step to improve the clinical outcome of such approaches. Read More

Eur J Neurol 2020 May 13. Epub 2020 May 13.

Department of Neurology, University Hospital, LMU, Munich, Germany.

Background: Acute vestibular symptoms have a profound impact on patients' well-being. In this study, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and functional impairment were investigated prospectively in patients with different peripheral and central vestibular disorders during the acute symptomatic stage to decipher the most relevant underlying factors.

Methods: 175 patients with acute vestibular disorders were categorized in central vestibular (CV, n=40), peripheral vestibular (PV, n=68) and episodic vestibular disorders (EV, n=67). Read More

Stroke 2020 May 1:STROKEAHA119028845. Epub 2020 May 1.

From the Dijon Stroke Registry, EA7460, Pathophysiology and Epidemiology of Cerebro-Cardiovascular diseases (PEC2), University Hospital of Dijon, University of Burgundy, France.

Background and Purpose- The ongoing ageing population is associated with an increasing number of patients with stroke who have preexisting cognitive impairment. This study aimed to evaluate clinical severity in patients with ischemic stroke according to prestroke cognitive status. Methods- Patients with ischemic stroke were prospectively identified among residents of Dijon, France using a population-based registry (2013-2017). Read More

J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 2020 May 13:appineuropsych19100211. Epub 2020 May 13.

Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, New York (Huey, Manoochehri, Gazes, Cosentino); Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York (Huey, Fremont); Department of Neurology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York (Huey, Manoochehri, Gazes, Cosentino); Department of Biostatistics, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York (Lee); Cognitive Neuroscience Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH, Bethesda, Md. (Huey, Tierney, Wassermann, Grafman); RONA Holdings, Silicon Valley, Calif. (Momeni); and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Think and Speak Lab, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Chicago (Grafman).

Objective: The authors examined the effects of two common functional polymorphisms-brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met and catechol--methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met-on cognitive, neuropsychiatric, and motor symptoms and MRI findings in persons with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) syndromes.

Methods: The BDNF Val66Met and COMT Val158Met polymorphisms were genotyped in 174 participants with FTLD syndromes, including behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, primary progressive aphasia, and corticobasal syndrome. Gray matter volumes and scores on the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System, Mattis Dementia Rating Scale, Wechsler Memory Scale, and Neuropsychiatric Inventory were compared between allele groups. Read More

Neurorehabil Neural Repair 2020 May;34(5):403-416

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Amsterdam Neuroscience and Amsterdam Movement Sciences, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

. Spontaneous recovery early after stroke is most evident during a time-sensitive window of heightened neuroplasticity, known as spontaneous neurobiological recovery. It is unknown whether poststroke upper-limb motor and somatosensory impairment both reflect spontaneous neurobiological recovery or if somatosensory impairment and/or recovery influences motor recovery. Read More

Brain Stimul 2020 Apr 2;13(4):979-986. Epub 2020 Apr 2.

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China. Electronic address:

Background: The contralesional hemisphere compensation may play a critical role in the recovery of stroke when there is extensive damage to one hemisphere. There is little research on the treatment of hemiplegia by high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) delivered to the contralesional cortex.

Objective: We conducted a 2-week randomized, sham-controlled, single-blind trial to determine whether high-frequency rTMS (HF-rTMS) over the contralesional motor cortex can improve motor function in severe stroke patients. Read More

Brain 2020 May 6. Epub 2020 May 6.

Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, and Department of Neurology, University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany.

Promoting the recovery of motor function and optimizing rehabilitation strategies for stroke patients is closely associated with the challenge of individual prediction. To date, stroke research has identified critical pathophysiological neural underpinnings at the cellular level as well as with regard to network reorganization. However, in order to generate reliable readouts at the level of individual patients and thereby realize translation from bench to bedside, we are still in a need for innovative methods. Read More

J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2020 May 6. Epub 2020 May 6.

Division of Cognitive and Motor Aging, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY.

Objectives: Apathy is a potential predictor of dementia in older adults, but this investigation has been limited to older adults with a preexisting neurological illness like mild cognitive impairment (MCI), stroke or Parkinson's disease. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between apathy at baseline and incident predementia syndromes, including MCI and motoric cognitive risk syndrome (MCR), subjective cognitive complaints and slow gait, in community dwelling older adults.

Methods: We prospectively studied the association between apathy (using the 3-item subscale of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS3A)) and incident cognitive disorders in 542 community dwelling older adults enrolled in the Central Control of Mobility in Aging study using Cox proportional hazard models. Read More

Nat Genet 2020 May 4;52(5):473-481. Epub 2020 May 4.

Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics and John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.

Here we report biallelic mutations in the sorbitol dehydrogenase gene (SORD) as the most frequent recessive form of hereditary neuropathy. We identified 45 individuals from 38 families across multiple ancestries carrying the nonsense c.757delG (p. Read More

Brain 2020 May;143(5):1525-1540

Department of Neurology, University Hospital Cologne and Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, Germany.

Acute ischaemic stroke disturbs healthy brain organization, prompting subsequent plasticity and reorganization to compensate for the loss of specialized neural tissue and function. Static resting state functional MRI studies have already furthered our understanding of cerebral reorganization by estimating stroke-induced changes in network connectivity aggregated over the duration of several minutes. In this study, we used dynamic resting state functional MRI analyses to increase temporal resolution to seconds and explore transient configurations of motor network connectivity in acute stroke. Read More

Vopr Kurortol Fizioter Lech Fiz Kult 2020 ;97(2):68-77

South Ural State Medical University, Ministry of Health of Russia, Chelyabinsk, Russia.

Acupuncture has been recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an alternative and complementary method for treating stroke and a way to increase the effectiveness of rehabilitation. The data available in the literature suggest that acupuncture has a beneficial effect on the status of patients with stroke. The mechanism of action of acupuncture for stroke includes the following components: 1) stimulation of neurogenesis and cell proliferation in the CNS; 2) regulation of cerebral blood flow; 3) antiapoptosis; 4) regulation of neurotransmitters; 5) improvement of the neuronal synaptic function, stimulation of long-term potentiation; 6) stimulation of neuroplasticity; and 7) decrease in blood-brain barrier permeability. Read More

Disabil Rehabil 2020 May 1:1-6. Epub 2020 May 1.

Institute for Neuroscience and Physiology, Clinical Neuroscience, Rehabilitation Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.

The Fugl-Meyer Assessment is the most used and highly recommended clinical assessment of sensorimotor function after stroke. A standardized use of the scale in different countries requires translation and cultural validation to the target language. The objective of the study was to develop an official Italian version of the scale by transcultural translation and validation. Read More

Front Neurorobot 2020 15;14:19. Epub 2020 Apr 15.

Human-Oriented Robotics and Control Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States.

Stroke affects one out of every six people on Earth. Approximately 90% of stroke survivors have some functional disability with mobility being a major impairment, which not only affects important daily activities but also increases the likelihood of falling. Originally intended to supplement traditional post-stroke gait rehabilitation, robotic systems have gained remarkable attention in recent years as a tool to decrease the strain on physical therapists while increasing the precision and repeatability of the therapy. Read More

Adv Exp Med Biol 2020 Apr 30. Epub 2020 Apr 30.

Department of Physical Therapy, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.

Movement synergies, muscle co-contraction, and decreased motor drive to muscle agonists were suggested to be major factors in motor impairments after stroke. The purpose of this study was to investigate the major muscle mechanisms contributing to motor impairment after stroke. Twelve healthy and 13 post-stroke patients participated in this observational study. Read More

Adv Exp Med Biol 2020 ;1228:289-301

II Clinic of Neurology, Department of Advanced Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Naples, Italy.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is an aging-related neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive motor impairment.The etiology of PD is poorly understood but likely involves both genetic and environmental factors; the management of the disease is still with symptomatic therapy without any interference on the progression of neurodegeneration. In the past two decades, the results of a series of prospective cohort studies suggested that lifestyle factors likely modify the risk of developing PD. Read More

Biomed Res Int 2020 2;2020:7859391. Epub 2020 Apr 2.

Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, HKSAR, China.

Background: The Lateral Step-Up Test (LSUT) has been used to evaluate the closed kinetic chain functional muscle strength in people with orthopaedic or neurological conditions. No study has systematically investigated the intrarater, interrater, and test-retest reliabilities of this measure in stroke survivors. In addition, correlations of the LSUT count with other stroke-specific impairment and function measurements remain unidentified. Read More

Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon) 2020 May 19;75:105013. Epub 2020 Apr 19.

Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium; Multidisciplinary Motor Centre Antwerp (M(2)OCEAN), University of Antwerp, Belgium.

Background: Trunk function and lower limb strength seem to be the primary predictors for functional independence in acute stroke patients. Gaining a better understanding of their relationship during walking aids in the identification of intrinsic trunk control deficits and underlying lower limb deficits resulting in compensatory trunk movements.

Methods: Fifty-seven subjects with stroke and 57 age- and gender-matched subjects without disability were included. Read More

J Am Geriatr Soc 2020 Apr 24. Epub 2020 Apr 24.

School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia.

Objectives: Our aim was to (1) describe the clinical characteristics and symptoms of people diagnosed with dementia at the time of admission to inpatient palliative care; and (2) compare the nature and severity of these palliative care-related problems to patients with other chronic diseases.

Design: Descriptive study using assessment data on point of care outcomes (January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2018).

Setting: A total of 129 inpatient palliative care services participating in the Australian Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration. Read More

Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova 2020 ;120(3):92-96

Research center for examination of medical devices, Moscow, Russia.

The analysis of the clinical efficacy and safety of ethylmethylhydroxypyridine succinate (mexidol) in the complex of rehabilitation measures in patients after ischemic stroke (IS) shows that course treatment with mexidol improves the recovery of neurological functions, decreases neurological deficit, cognitive disorders, including memory impairment, and manifestations of asthenic syndrome, increases the level of social adaptation and improves the psycho-emotional state of patients, reduces spasticity, increases motor and speech activity, praxis, reliably eliminates the ignoring syndrome. There is a decrease in the level of total cholesterol and low-density b-lipoproteins in the blood, and decrease in the severity of hypercoagulation. The results of the studies have convincingly shown the efficacy of mexidol at all stages of rehabilitation treatment of patients with IS. Read More

Stroke 2020 Apr 21:STROKEAHA120029373. Epub 2020 Apr 21.

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan (R.M.).

Repetitive peripheral magnetic stimulation (rPMS) is a noninvasive treatment method that can penetrate to deeper structures with painless stimulation to improve motor function in people with physical impairment due to brain or nerve disorders. The effectiveness and safety of this intervention for people after stroke currently remain uncertain. Our recent Cochrane review update assessed the effects of rPMS in improving activities of daily living and functional ability in people after stroke. Read More

Clin Neurophysiol 2020 Jun 19;131(6):1345-1353. Epub 2020 Mar 19.

ToNIC, Toulouse NeuroImaging Center, Université de Toulouse, Inserm, UPS, France; Department of Functional Physiological Explorations, University Hospital of Toulouse, Hôpital de Rangueil, Toulouse, France. Electronic address:

Objective: Spastic co-contraction is a motor-disabling form of muscle overactivity occurring after a stroke, contributing to a limitation in active movement and a certain level of motor impairment. The cortical mechanisms underlying spastic co-contraction remain to be more fully elucidated, the present study aimed to investigate the role of the cortical beta oscillations in spastic co-contraction after a stroke.

Method: We recruited fifteen post-stroke participants and nine healthy controls. Read More

J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis 2020 Jun 14;29(6):104812. Epub 2020 Apr 14.

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine II, School of Medicine, Fujita Health University, Tsu, Japan.

Purpose: Computed tomography (CT) is used for initial assessment of patients with suspected stroke. Motor outcome prediction using the initial CT image is important for clinical rehabilitation. However, there is inconsistency in the results reported by the few publications on hematoma volume and motor outcomes in patients with putaminal hemorrhage. Read More

Curr Top Med Chem 2020 Apr 15. Epub 2020 Apr 15.

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. India.

Background: The occurrence of secondary neurodegeneration has been exclusively observed after the first incidence of stroke. In humans and rodents, post-stroke secondary neurodegeneration (SND) is an inevitable event that can lead to progressive neuronal loss at a region distant to initial infarct. SND can lead to cognitive and motor function impairment, finally causing dementia. Read More

Arch Rehabil Res Clin Transl 2019 Dec 10;1(3-4). Epub 2019 Sep 10.

VA Maryland Health Care System, Baltimore VA Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland.

Objective: To demonstrate the feasibility of algorithmic prediction using a model of baseline arm movement, genetic factors, demographic characteristics, and multimodal assessment of the structure and function of motor pathways. To identify prognostic factors and the biological substrate for reductions in arm impairment in response to repetitive task practice.

Design: This prospective single-group interventional study seeks to predict response to a repetitive task practice program using an intent-to-treat paradigm. Read More

Sci Rep 2020 Apr 14;10(1):6274. Epub 2020 Apr 14.

Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

The manifestation of cognitive and physical impairment in stroke patients before the acute event suggests accumulating subclinical vascular pathology in the brain. We investigated whether impairments in cognitive and physical functioning were associated with an increased stroke risk. Between 2002 and 2008, 8,519 stroke-free non-demented participants from the population-based Rotterdam Study underwent cognition and physical assessments including Mini-Mental State Examination, 15-word learning test, Stroop test, letter-digit substitution test, verbal fluency test, Purdue pegboard test and questionnaires on basic and instrumental activities of daily living (BADL; IADL). Read More

Neurol Sci 2020 Apr 7. Epub 2020 Apr 7.

Applied Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Physical Therapy, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil.

Objective: To compare the interhemispheric asymmetry of the motor cortex excitability of chronic stroke patients with healthy and to observe if the magnitude of this asymmetry is associated to sensory-motor impairment and stroke chronicity.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed with chronic stroke and aged and sex-matched healthy individuals. The interhemispheric asymmetry index was calculated by the difference of rest motor threshold (rMT) of the brain hemispheres. Read More

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020 Apr 6;117(16):9094-9100. Epub 2020 Apr 6.

Laboratory of Stem Cells and Restorative Neurology, Lund Stem Cell Center, Lund University, SE-22184 Lund, Sweden;

Stem cell transplantation can improve behavioral recovery after stroke in animal models but whether stem cell-derived neurons become functionally integrated into stroke-injured brain circuitry is poorly understood. Here we show that intracortically grafted human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell-derived cortical neurons send widespread axonal projections to both hemispheres of rats with ischemic lesions in the cerebral cortex. Using rabies virus-based transsynaptic tracing, we find that at 6 mo after transplantation, host neurons in the contralateral somatosensory cortex receive monosynaptic inputs from grafted neurons. Read More

BMC Health Serv Res 2020 Apr 6;20(1):288. Epub 2020 Apr 6.

Department of Public Health and Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 8905 MTFS, N-7491, Trondheim, Norway.

Background: The result from the Life After Stroke (LAST) study showed that an 18-month follow up program as part of the primary health care, did not improve maintenance of motor function for stroke survivors. In this study we evaluated whether the follow-up program could lead to a reduction in the use of health care compared to standard care. Furthermore, we analyse to what extent differences in health care costs for stroke patients could be explained by individual need factors (such as physical disability, cognitive impairment, age, gender and marital status), and we tested whether a generic health related quality of life (HRQoL) is able to predict the utilisation of health care services for patients post-stroke as well as more disease specific indexes. Read More

Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2020 Apr 3. Epub 2020 Apr 3.

Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, University of California, Irvine Medical Center, Irvine, CA, USA.

Thalamic dementia is an uncommon type of stroke that presents with disorientation, behavioral changes, and impairment of executive functions, with relative preservation of motor functions. It is typically caused by paramedian territory infarctions of the thalamus, most often due to ischemic insult at the tip of the basilar artery. In this report, we present a case of bilateral thalamic infarcts resulting in thalamic dementia with severe behavioral manifestations in a 64-year-old man with no pre-existing neuropsychiatric comorbidities. Read More

Transl Stroke Res 2020 Apr 6. Epub 2020 Apr 6.

ToNIC, Toulouse NeuroImaging Center, Inserm, Université de Toulouse, UPS, UMR 1214 -Inserm/UPSToNIC, Toulouse NeuroImaging Center CHU Purpan Pavillon Baudot Place du Docteur Baylac, 31024 Cedex 3, Toulouse, France.

Ischemic stroke mostly affects the primary motor cortex and descending motor fibres, with consequent motor impairment. Pre-clinical models of stroke with reproducible and long-lasting sensorimotor deficits in higher-order animals are lacking. We describe a new method to induce focal brain damage targeting the motor cortex to study damage to the descending motor tracts in the non-human primate. Read More

J Clin Med 2020 Apr 1;9(4). Epub 2020 Apr 1.

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41944, Korea.

This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of interhemispheric functional connectivity (FC) as a predictor of motor recovery in severe hand impairment and to determine the cutoff FC level as a clinically useful parameter. Patients with stroke ( = 22; age, 59.9 ± 13. Read More

Medicine (Baltimore) 2020 Apr;99(14):e19495

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Republic of Korea.

Introduction: Upper extremity motor impairment is one of the major sequelae of stroke, resulting in limitations of activities of daily living. Recently, contralesional cortical activation has been reported to be important for motor recovery in stroke patients with severe upper extremity hemiparesis due to the extensive corticospinal tract involvement. We therefore designed this study to investigate the effects of contralesional anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), which induces cortical activation, in stroke patients with severe upper extremity motor impairment. Read More

Somatosens Mot Res 2020 Jun 31;37(2):84-91. Epub 2020 Mar 31.

Department of Neurology, Istanbul Bakırköy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey.

The purposes of the study were to (a) investigate both explicit and implicit motor imagery ability (MIA) impairment after stroke, (b) examine predictive effects of clinical characteristics for MIA after stroke. Forty one patients with stroke (PwS) (mean age 59.41 ± 10. Read More

Front Hum Neurosci 2020 12;14:50. Epub 2020 Mar 12.

Research Service and the Brain Rehabilitation Research Center, Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States.

Representations in the brain are encoded as patterns of activity of large populations of neurons. The science of population encoded representations, also known as parallel distributed processing (PDP), achieves neurological verisimilitude and has been able to account for a large number of cognitive phenomena in normal people, including reaction times (and reading latencies), stimulus recognition, the effect of stimulus salience on attention, perceptual invariance, simultaneous egocentric and allocentric visual processing, top-down/bottom-up processing, language errors, the effect of statistical regularities of experience, frequency, and age of acquisition, instantiation of rules and symbols, content addressable memory and the capacity for pattern completion, preservation of function in the face of noisy or distorted input, inference, parallel constraint satisfaction, the binding problem and gamma coherence, principles of hippocampal function, the location of knowledge in the brain, limitations in the scope and depth of knowledge acquired through experience, and Piagetian stages of cognitive development. PDP studies have been able to provide a coherent account for impairment in a variety of language functions resulting from stroke or dementia in a large number of languages and the phenomenon of graceful degradation observed in such studies. Read More

Eur J Phys Rehabil Med 2020 Mar 25. Epub 2020 Mar 25.

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.

Background: The improvement of the upper limb disability, which is mainly caused by stroke, is still one of the rehabilitation treatment challenges. However, the effectiveness of Task-Based Mirror Therapy (TBMT) on subacute stroke with moderate and severe upper limb impairment has not been deeply explored.

Aim: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of TBMT, in comparison to occupational therapy, in moderate and severe upper limb impairment by analyzing the motor function and activities of daily living in subacute stroke patients. Read More

Neuroscience 2020 May 17;434:35-43. Epub 2020 Mar 17.

Key Laboratory of Sensing Technology and Biomedical Instrument of Guangdong Province, School of Biomedical Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China; Shenzhen Research Institute of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. Electronic address:

Recently, alterations of complexity due to brain disorders have been demonstrated using brain entropy (BEN), while the changes of brain complexity in stroke, a common cerebrovascular disease, remain unclear. In this research, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed to explore the alterations of brain complexity using BEN in twenty stroke patients with motor deficits and nineteen matched healthy controls. The sample entropy (SampEn) was applied to build the BEN mapping for each participant. Read More

Neurorehabil Neural Repair 2020 May 20;34(5):428-439. Epub 2020 Mar 20.

Department of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.

. Accurate prediction of clinical impairment in upper-extremity motor function following therapy in chronic stroke patients is a difficult task for clinicians but is key in prescribing appropriate therapeutic strategies. Machine learning is a highly promising avenue with which to improve prediction accuracy in clinical practice. Read More

PLoS One 2020 19;15(3):e0229918. Epub 2020 Mar 19.

Departament of Physical Education, Universidade Federal do Parana, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil.

Although swimming is recognized as a symmetrical sport, equivalence between each body side cannot be insured. Swimmers with physical and motor impairment may present asymmetries that are even more pronounced. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the symmetry of temporal coordination in the front crawl stroke phases and their dimensional characteristics among swimmers of different levels of skill and disabled swimmers. Read More

J Neurophysiol 2020 May 18;123(5):1775-1790. Epub 2020 Mar 18.

Department of Exercise Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide with many people left with impaired motor function. Evidence from experimental animal models of stroke indicates that reducing motor cortex inhibition may facilitate neural plasticity and motor recovery. This study compared primary motor cortex (M1) inhibition measures over the first 12 wk after stroke with a cohort of age-similar healthy controls. Read More

J Clin Neurosci 2020 May 13;75:80-84. Epub 2020 Mar 13.

Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Konan Women's University, Kobe, Japan.

Introduction: Stroke-related muscle wasting are important therapeutic targets to reduce disability in patients with stroke. Peripheral nerve conduction impairment is one reported factor that causes muscle wasting in these patients, but muscle strength, muscle wasting, and peripheral nerve conduction abnormality have not been examined in patients with acute stroke. We therefore investigated changes in lower-leg motor nerve conduction, muscle strength, and muscle wasting in patients with acute stroke. Read More

Neurol Med Chir (Tokyo) 2020 Apr 13;60(4):217-222. Epub 2020 Mar 13.

Department of Neurosurgery, Fukuoka University Hospital.

The single-joint Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL-SJ) robot is an exoskeleton-type suit developed for the neurorehabilitation of upper limb function. Several studies have addressed the usefulness of the robot; however, the appropriate patient selection remains unclear. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of the HAL-SJ exoskeleton in improving upper limb function in the subacute phase after a stroke, as a function of the severity of arm paralysis. Read More