Functional Capacity and Motor Performance of Upper Limbs in Individuals with Cerebellar Disorders: A Pilot Study.

In simple daily activities carried out by the upper limbs, the cerebellum is responsible for the adaptations required for the accurate movement based on previous experiences and external references. This paper aims to characterize the performance of the upper limbs after a cerebellar disease. We evaluated the digital and handgrip strength, dexterity, and function of the upper limbs.

Ipsilesional Arm Aiming Movements After Stroke: Influence of the Degree of Contralesional Impairment.

The authors examined the effects of the degree of impairment of the contralesional upper limb and the side of the hemispheric damage on ipsilesional upper limb performance in chronic stroke individuals. Right- and left-side stroke resulting in mild-to-severe impairment and healthy participants took part in simple and choice reaction time tasks involving aiming movements. The stroke individuals performed the aiming movements with the ipsilesional upper limb using a digitizing tablet to ipsi- or contralateral targets presented in a monitor.

Ipsilesional arm motor sequence performance after right and left hemisphere damage.

Aiming movements are part of daily activities but the brain hemispheres' role in targeted aiming sequential movements is not fully clear. Start and execution of discrete and sequential tasks toward targets were analyzed in 10 individuals with left-hemisphere damage, 10 right-hemisphere-damaged, and 10 healthy ones. Arm movements were performed over a digitizing tablet, following stimuli on a monitor, from initial position toward right and left-positioned targets.