Diffusion tensor imaging evaluation of neural network development in patients undergoing therapeutic repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation following stroke

Abstract

We aimed to investigate plastic changes in cerebral white matter structures using diffusion tensor imaging following a 15-day stroke rehabilitation program. We compared the detection of cerebral plasticity between generalized fractional anisotropy (GFA), a novel tool for investigating white matter structures, and fractional anisotropy (FA). Low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (LF-rTMS) of 2400 pulses applied to the nonlesional hemisphere and 240 min intensive occupation therapy (OT) daily over 15 days. Motor function was evaluated using the Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA) and Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT). Patients underwent diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on admission and discharge, from which bilateral FA and GFA values in Brodmann area (BA) 4 and BA6 were calculated. Motor function improved following treatment (p < 0 001). Treatment increased GFA values for both the lesioned and nonlesioned BA4 (p < 0 05, p < 0 001, resp.). Changes in GFA value for BA4 of the lesioned hemisphere were significantly inversely correlated with changes in WMFT scores (R 2 = 0 363, p < 0 05). Our findings indicate that the GFA may have a potentially more useful ability than FA to detect changes in white matter structures in areas of fiber intersection for any such future investigations.

Effectiveness of robot-assisted virtual reality mirror therapy for upper limb motor dysfunction after stroke: study protocol for a single-center randomized controlled clinical trial

“…Studies have shown that about 80% of acute stroke patients and more than 55% chronic stroke patients have upper limb motor dysfunction [2,3], which seriously affects the quality of life of patients and their families [4,5]. At present, the conventional rehabilitation methods for upper limb motor dysfunction after stroke consists of physical therapy [6], occupational therapy [7], but more than 50% of stroke patients still have long-term upper limb motor dysfunction [8]. The clinical efficacy of conventional rehabilitation methods in the treatment of upper limb motor dysfunction after stroke is not satisfactory, and new rehabilitation concepts and techniques are urgently needed.…”

Structural connectivity changes in the motor execution network after stroke rehabilitation

“…Some convincing evidence has demonstrated that the combined intervention of low-frequency rTMS (LF-rTMS) and intensive OT may induce beneficial functional and structural reorganization after a stroke (Ueda et al., 2019a, 2019b; Yamada et al., 2018 ). This intervention may generate functional restructuring in the ipsilesional hemisphere by applying LF-rTMS to the contralesional hemisphere ( Kakuda et al., 2012 ; Ueda et al., 2019b, 2020).…”

Analysis and Modeling of Football Team’s Collaboration Mode and Performance Evaluation Using Network Science and BP Neural Network

“…ese factors can be at the member level, for example, a member's behavior will have a great impact on the team's score and then affect the team's performance, such as passing, shooting, and foul [40]; it can also be at the team level [41], for example, when each member performs consistently, the team's flexibility and strategy changes can also Mathematical Problems in Engineering affect the team [42][43][44]. e theoretical study shows that a three-layer BPNN structure can approximate any continuous function.…”