Electroencephalographic Phase Synchrony Index as a Biomarker of Poststroke Motor Impairment and Recovery.

Motor recovery after stroke is of great clinical interest. Besides magnetic resonance imaging functional connectivity, electroencephalographic synchrony is also an available biomarker. However, the clinical relevance of electroencephalographic synchrony in hemiparesis has not been fully understood.

Cortical changes underlying balance recovery in patients with hemiplegic stroke.

Balance problems are a major sequelae of stroke and are implicated in poor recovery of activities of daily living. In a cross-sectional study, using 50-channel event-related functional near-infrared spectroscopy we previously reported a significant correlation between individual balance ability after stroke and postural perturbation-related cortical activation in the supplementary motor area (SMA) and the prefrontal cortex. However, the neural mechanisms underlying balance recovery after stroke remain unclear.

Near-infrared spectroscopy-mediated neurofeedback enhances efficacy of motor imagery-based training in poststroke victims: a pilot study.

Background And Purpose: Despite the findings that motor imagery and execution are supposed to share common neural networks, previous studies using imagery-based rehabilitation have revealed inconsistent results. In the present study, we investigated whether feedback of cortical activities (neurofeedback) using near-infrared spectroscopy could enhance the efficacy of imagery-based rehabilitation in stroke patients.

Methods: Twenty hemiplegic patients with subcortical stroke received 6 sessions of mental practice with motor imagery of the distal upper limb in addition to standard rehabilitation.

[Contribution of brain function analysis to the evolution of neurorehabilitation].

Recent studies of functional neuroimaging and clinical neurophysiology have implied that functional recovery after stroke is associated with use-dependent plasticity of the damaged brain. However the property of the reorganized neural network depends on site and size of the lesion, which makes it difficult to assess what the adaptive plasticity is. From clinical point of view there is accumulating randomized controlled trials for the benefit of task-oriented rehabilitative intervention including constraint-induced movement therapy, robotics, and body-weight supported treadmill training.

Neurofeedback using real-time near-infrared spectroscopy enhances motor imagery related cortical activation.

Accumulating evidence indicates that motor imagery and motor execution share common neural networks. Accordingly, mental practices in the form of motor imagery have been implemented in rehabilitation regimes of stroke patients with favorable results. Because direct monitoring of motor imagery is difficult, feedback of cortical activities related to motor imagery (neurofeedback) could help to enhance efficacy of mental practice with motor imagery.

Cerebellar ataxia rehabilitation trial in degenerative cerebellar diseases.

Objective: To investigate short- and long-term effects of intensive rehabilitation on ataxia, gait, and activities of daily living (ADLs) in patients with degenerative cerebellar disease.

Methods: A total of 42 patients with pure cerebellar degeneration were randomly assigned to the immediate group or the delayed-entry control group. The immediate group received 2 hours of inpatient physical and occupational therapy, focusing on coordination, balance, and ADLs, on weekdays and 1 hour on weekends for 4 weeks.

Impaired motor learning by a pursuit rotor test reduces functional outcomes during rehabilitation of poststroke ataxia.

Background: Motor learning is essential to gain skills with neurorehabilitation.

Objective: To investigate whether capacity for motor learning affects rehabilitation outcome and its relevant brain activation in ataxic patients with stroke.

Methods: Twelve patients presenting with ataxia admitted for inpatient rehabilitation 2 to 3 months after infratentorial stroke and 6 control subjects performed 8 repetitions of 30-second pursuit rotor (PR) task.

[Clinical application of functional near-infrared spectroscopy in rehabilitation medicine].

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an effective tool to non-invasively investigate cerebral oxygenation and hemodynamics. fNIRS as well as other functional neuroimaging techniques including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) have been used for investigating the neural mechanisms of functional recovery after a stroke or a traumatic brain injury. fNIRS has several advantages over other neuroimaging techniques in terms of clinical application in the field of rehabilitation medicine.

Inferior olivary hypertrophy is associated with a lower functional state after pontine hemorrhage.

Background: Inferior olivary hypertrophy (IOH) may develop after pontine hemorrhage and may become a pacemaker for symptomatic palatal tremor (SPT). However, there is no information available that elucidates how IOH may affect the functional outcome. The purpose of this study was to investigate how frequently IOH was associated with clinical manifestations of involuntary movements, including ocular myoclonus (OM) and SPT, and whether IOH influenced the functional outcome after pontine hemorrhage.

Does therapeutic facilitation add to locomotor outcome of body weight--supported treadmill training in nonambulatory patients with stroke? A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To assess benefit of the facilitation technique (FT) coupled with body weight-supported treadmill training (BWSTT) in nonambulatory patients with stroke.

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Inpatient rehabilitation hospital.

Benefit of inpatient multidisciplinary rehabilitation up to 1 year after stroke.

Objective: To analyze the benefit of inpatient multidisciplinary rehabilitation up to 1 year after stroke.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Japan.

Longitudinal optical imaging study for locomotor recovery after stroke.

Background And Purpose: We sought to investigate cerebral mechanisms underlying locomotor recovery after stroke.

Methods: We measured cortical activities during hemiparetic gait on the treadmill before and after 2 months of inpatient rehabilitation in 8 patients with initial stroke (5 men, 3 women; 4 with right and 4 with left hemiparesis; aged 57 years; 3 months after stroke on average), using an optical imaging system.

Results: On the initial evaluation, hemiparetic gait was associated with increased oxygenated hemoglobin levels in the medial primary sensorimotor cortex (SMC) that were greater in the unaffected hemisphere than in the affected hemisphere as well as in the premotor cortex (PMC) and supplementary motor area.

Premotor cortex is involved in restoration of gait in stroke.

Cortical activation during hemiplegic gait was assessed in six nonambulatory patients with severe stroke (four men, two women; four with right and two with left hemiplegia; 57 years old and 3 months after stroke on average), using a near-infrared spectroscopic imaging system. Each patient performed tasks of treadmill walking (0.2km/hr), alternated with rest every 30 seconds for four repetitions, under partial body weight support, either with mechanical assistance in swinging the paretic leg control (CON) or with a facilitation technique that enhanced swinging of the paretic leg (FT), provided by physical therapists.