Longitudinal optical imaging study for locomotor recovery after stroke

• Published in: Stroke (1970) Vol. 34; no. 12; pp. 2866 - 2870
• Main Authors: MIYAI, Ichiro, YAGURA, Hajime, HATAKENAKA, Megumi, ODA, Ichiro, KONISHI, Ichiro, KUBOTA, Kisou
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hagerstown, MD Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 01-12-2003
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Brain Mapping - methods; Exercise Test; Female; Gait; Gait Disorders, Neurologic - etiology; Gait Disorders, Neurologic - rehabilitation; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Motor Activity; Neurology; Optics and Photonics; Paresis - etiology; Paresis - rehabilitation; Recovery of Function; Somatosensory Cortex - physiopathology; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; Stroke - complications; Stroke - physiopathology; Stroke Rehabilitation; Treatment Outcome; Vascular diseases and vascular malformations of the nervous system; Treadmill exercise; Human; Hemiparesis; Nervous system diseases; Stroke; Cerebral cortex; Motor system disorder; Cardiovascular disease; Exploration; optics; Cerebral disorder; Encephalon; Vascular disease; Locomotion; Near infrared spectrometry; Follow up study; gait; Central nervous system disease; Rehabilitation; Neurological disorder; spectroscopy, near-infrared; Cerebrovascular disease
• ISSN: 0039-2499; 1524-4628
• DOI: 10.1161/01.STR.0000100166.81077.8A

We sought to investigate cerebral mechanisms underlying locomotor recovery after stroke.
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.
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. On the second examination, the asymmetry in SMC activation significantly improved, and there was enhanced PMC activation in the affected hemisphere. Improvement of the asymmetrical SMC activation significantly correlated with improvement of gait parameters.
Locomotor recovery after stroke may be associated with improvement of asymmetry in SMC activation and enhanced PMC activation in the affected hemisphere.