Shear wave elastography of the brachioradialis spastic muscle and its correlations with biceps brachialis and clinical scales.

Background: Shear wave elastography technique estimates biological tissue shear elastic modulus (μ[kPa]), which can be used as an objective, muscle-specific indicator of stiffness increase caused by spasticity. We measured both the brachioradialis and biceps brachialis μ in hemiparetic post-stroke patients (n = 11). The spastic arm was compared with the supposedly non-affected contralateral limb and correlated with Fugl-Meyer Assessment and Modified Ashworth Scales.

Cortical and spinal excitability changes after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation combined to physiotherapy in stroke spastic patients.

Objective: Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) has been used to treat post-stroke upper limb spasticity (ULS) in addition to physiotherapy (PT). To determine whether rTMS associated with PT modulates cortical and spinal cord excitability as well as decreases ULS of post-stroke patients.

Methods: Twenty chronic patients were randomly assigned to either the intervention group-1 Hz rTMS on the unaffected hemisphere and PT, or control group-sham stimulation and PT, for ten sessions.

Transcranial direct current stimulation: before, during, or after motor training?

Noninvasive brain stimulation has recently been used to augment motor training-induced plasticity. However, the exact time during which noninvasive brain stimulation can be combined with motor therapy to maximize neuroplasticity and behavioral changes is unknown. We conducted a randomized sham-controlled crossover trial to examine when (before, during, or after training) transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) should be applied to best reinforce motor training-induced plasticity in 12 healthy right-handed participants (mean age: 21.