Cortical activation pattern of compensatory movement in stroke patients.
OBJECTIVE
Little is known about the cortical activation pattern of compensatory movement (CM) in stroke patients. We attempted to investigate the cortical activation pattern of compensatory movement in stroke patients, using functional MRI (fMRI).


METHODS
Eight hemiparetic stroke patients were recruited for this study. We measured the shoulder abduction angle when each subject was simulating eating in a sitting position, which was considered as the degree of CM. The fMRI was performed at 1.5T using an elbow motor task at a frequency of 0.5 Hz.


RESULTS
There was an inverse correlation between the shoulder abduction angle of the affected side and the LI (Laterality Index) (r=-0.745; p< 0.05). The shoulder abduction angle of the affected side was significantly related to the sum of activated voxels in all regions of interest (r=0.776; p< 0.05) and the activated voxels of the supplementary motor area (r=951; p< 0.05). However, we did not find any correlation between the shoulder abduction angle and the activated voxels of other brain areas.


CONCLUSIONS
We demonstrated that a greater shoulder abduction angle on the affected side requires more cortical activation. Therefore, CM appears to be related to the change of the cortical motor control toward greater recruitment of cortical neurons.
Lee
Mi Young
MY
Department of Physical Therapy, College of Health and Therapy, Daegu Haany University, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
Park
Ji Won
JW
Park
Rae Joon
RJ
Hong
Ji Heon
JH
Son
Su Min
SM
Ahn
Sang Ho
SH
Cho
Yoon Woo
YW
Jang
Sung Ho
SH
D000010:Abducens Nerve / Q000503:physiopathology; D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D012782:Shoulder / Q000294:innervation / Q000503:physiopathology; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D020521:Stroke / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation
D010100:Oxygen