Predictors and brain connectivity changes associated with arm motor function improvement from intensive practice in chronic stroke.

The brain changes that underlie therapy-induced improvement in motor function after stroke remain obscure. This study sought to demonstrate the feasibility and utility of measuring motor system physiology in a clinical trial of intensive upper extremity rehabilitation in chronic stroke-related hemiparesis. This was a substudy of two multi-center clinical trials of intensive robotic and intensive conventional therapy arm therapy in chronic, significantly hemiparetic, stroke patients.