Sensory deficits in ipsilesional upper-extremity in chronic stroke patients

Abstract

Objective To investigate somatosensory deficits in the ipsilesional wrist and hand in chronic stroke patients and correlate these deficits with contralesional sensorimotor dysfunctions, functional testing, laterality and handedness.Methods Fifty subjects (twenty-two healthy volunteers and twenty-eight stroke patients) underwent evaluation with Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments, the sensory and motor Fugl-Meyer Assessment, the Nottingham Sensory Assessment in both wrists and hands and functional tests.Results Twenty-five patients had sensory changes in the wrist and hand contralateral to the stroke, and eighteen patients (64%) had sensory deficits in the ipsilesional wrist and hand. The most significant ipsilesional sensory loss was observed in the left-handed patients. We found that the patients with brain damage in the right hemisphere had better scores for ipsilesional tactile sensation.Conclusions A reduction in ipsilesional conscious proprioception, tactile or thermal sensation was found in stroke subjects. Right hemisphere damage and right-handed subjects had better scores in ipsilesional tactile sensation.

The Intersection between Ocular and Manual Motor Control: Eye–Hand Coordination in Acquired Brain Injury

“…Recently, eye movements have been shown in stroke investigations to be a sensitive biomarker for cognitive and motor recovery (149, 150). Additionally, poststroke patients display unique pathophysiologic phenotypes that may include tactile deficits (151–153), proprioceptive losses (154, 155), hemiparesis and related motor synergies (156–158), and spasticity (159–161), which would suggest that these new sensory and motor “states” postinjury create new relationships between receptor and effector, requiring the need for re-integration (162–164). …”

Ludic-activities-based therapeutic suitcase for rehabilitation of people with stroke

“…In a study carried out by Lima et al, with 28 individuals affected by stroke, 25 of them had sensorial deficits in hand and wrist, with reduction of proprioception and tactile sensitivity, requiring rehabilitation [20]. For this purpose, the therapeutic suitcase described here owns devices for activities with the specific objective of treating sensitivity and proprioception, with relevant gains in the first 10 sessions, as shown in the pilot essay.…”

Impacts of Sensation, Perception, and Motor Abilities of the Ipsilesional Upper Limb on Hand Functions in Unilateral Stroke: Quantifications From Biomechanical and Functional Perspectives

“…Together with the results of the 2 performance‐oriented tasks, the results of the subtests of barognosis, roughness differentiation, and stereognosis revealed significant differences between the patient and control groups. Degradation in proprioception, tactile, or thermal sensation of ipsilesional hands has recently been reported [7]; however, no studies have yet examined active touching sense. Different from the traditional sensory tests that focus on submodality‐specific perceptions, the MTT is a test which evaluates sensory‐perception ability with regard to the integrated impulses transmitted from the proprioceptors and mechanoreceptors of the hand.…”

“…Because a major focus of stroke rehabilitation is training to achieve maximum independence, awareness of the ipsilesional upper limb function may be of importance for patients with severe motor dysfunction when developing a comprehensive rehabilitation program [5]. Although a number of studies have reported deficits in the ipsilesional upper extremity (UE) of patients with unilateral stroke based on tests of manual dexterity, touch‐pressure threshold, and grasp strength [6‐10], most of the work done in this field has concentrated on motor deficits of the ipsilesional hand, rather than sensory or perception deficits. As the hands serve 2 closely related functions, namely, execution and perception [11], to understand how body segments are coordinated while executing an action, a comprehensive assessment that includes the evaluation of both perception and motor functions of UE should be conducted.…”