Increase in Sensorimotor Cortex Response to Somatosensory Stimulation Over Subacute Poststroke Period Correlates With Motor Recovery in Hemiparetic Patients
Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, 05/24/2012
Clinical Article
Schaechter JD et al. – The findings suggest that increased responsiveness of the sensorimotor cortex (SMC) to somatosensory stimulation over the subacute poststroke period may contribute to motor recovery.
Methods- A total of 10 hemiparetic stroke patients underwent serial functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during tactile stimulation and testing of sensorimotor function over 1 year-at early subacute, late subacute, and chronic poststroke time points.
- Over the subacute poststroke period, increased responsiveness of the ipsilesional SMC to tactile stimulation of a stroke-affected digit correlated strongly with concurrent gains in motor function.
- Increased responsiveness of the ipsilesional and contralesional SMC over the subacute period also correlated strongly with motor recovery experienced over the first year poststroke.
