Effect of afferent input on motor cortex excitability during stroke recovery

Cortical beta oscillations and motor thresholds differ across the spectrum of post-stroke motor impairment, a preliminary MEG and TMS study

“…Beta-ERS impairment has previously been demonstrated with peripheral sensory stimuli post-stroke (Laaksonen et al, 2012) but not for the motor system. The similarity is not surprising given the dense interconnections between motor and somatosensory cortices (Donoghue and Sanes, 1994).…”

“…The nascent use of MEG post-stroke has focused on changes to resting-state (Tecchio et al, 2005;Tecchio et al, 2006;Westlake et al, 2012) and passively evoked somatosensory oscillations (Laaksonen et al, 2012;Tecchio et al, 2007). Due to the methodological difficulties inherent in eliciting voluntary movements in the affected limbs of stroke patients, little is known about the effects of stroke on movement-related beta oscillations.…”

Cortical Activation Patterns of Cue-Paced Foot Movement in Subacute Stroke Patients

“…Experimental sessions of cue-paced active foot movement (with feedback) could be used as a novel strategy for motor rehabilitation. Online monitoring of cortical activation and comparisons between movements of both feet, could be useful to assess motor recovery (i.e., changes in cortical activation) [4,5,6]. Further work will focus on the post-movement ERS and possible differences between subacute stroke patients and healthy persons.…”

“…In general, ERD can be interpreted as a correlate of an active cortical area, while ERS can be associated with a deactivated or inhibited state of large neuronal networks. After a stroke, structural and functional changes in the brain affect the characteristics of ERD and ERS patterns, i.e., strength and topography [4,5,6]. In this work, we investigate the cortical activation patterns of subacute stroke patients during foot movements of the affected and unaffected side of their body.…”

Identification of connectivity in human motor control: exciting the afferent pathways

“…Indeed, recovery of motor function is not only associated with altered activation and reorganisation of cortical motor areas (Grefkes and Ward, 2014) but also with changes in sensory areas (Roiha et al, 2011). Laaksonen et al (2012) showed that the modulation of motor cortex excitability by sensory input changes during the recovery of motor function, underlining that recovery of motor function requires sensorimotor integration. Moreover, training of sensory function reduces motor impairment after stroke (Schabrun and Hillier, 2009).…”