Effects of Action Observational Training on Cerebral Hemodynamic Changes of Stroke Survivors: A fTCD Study.
[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Action Observational Training (AOT) on cerebral hemodynamic changes, including cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) and cerebral blood flow volume (CBFvol) in healthy subjects and stroke survivors. [Subjects] This study had a cross-sectional design. Seven healthy subjects and six patients with a first-time stroke participated in this study. [Methods] All subjects were educated about AOT, and we measured their systolic peak velocity (Vs), mean flow velocity (Vm), pulsatility index (PI), and resistance index (RI) in the middle cerebral artery (MCA), the anterior cerebral artery (ACA), and the posterior cerebral artery (PCA), before and after performance of AOT, using Functional Transcranial Doppler (fTCD) with a 2-MHz probe. [Results] Both healthy subjects and stroke survivors showed significant improvements of Vs and Vm in MCA, ACA and PCA after AOT. [Conclusion] Our findings indicate that AOT increases CBFV in healthy subjects and stroke survivors, because the brain requires more blood in order to meet the metabolic demand of the brain during AOT.
Graduate School of Physical Therapy, Sahmyook University, Republic of Korea.
Seong-Sik
SS
Kim
Graduate School of Physical Therapy, Sahmyook University, Republic of Korea.
Tae-Hoon
TH
Kim
Graduate School of Physical Therapy, Sahmyook University, Republic of Korea.
Byoung-Hee
BH
Lee
Action observational training; Cerebral blood flow; Functional transcranial Doppler (fTCD)