Neurorehabilitation and neural repair
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Neurorehabil Neural Repair · Nov 2008
Randomized Controlled TrialRehabilitation of reaching and grasping function in severe hemiplegic patients using functional electrical stimulation therapy.
The aim of this study was to establish the efficacy of a therapeutic intervention based on functional electrical stimulation (FES) therapy to improve reaching and grasping function after severe hemiplegia due to stroke. ⋯ FES therapy with upper extremity training may be an efficacious intervention in the rehabilitation of reaching and grasping function during acute stroke rehabilitation.
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Neurorehabil Neural Repair · Nov 2008
Comparative StudyPsychometric comparisons of 2 versions of the Fugl-Meyer Motor Scale and 2 versions of the Stroke Rehabilitation Assessment of Movement.
To provide empirical justification for selecting motor scales for stroke patients, the authors compared the psychometric properties (validity, responsiveness, test-retest reliability, and smallest real difference [SRD]) of the Fugl-Meyer Motor Scale (FM), the simplified FM (S-FM), the Stroke Rehabilitation Assessment of Movement instrument (STREAM), and the simplified STREAM (S-STREAM). ⋯ The 4 motor scales showed acceptable levels of reliability, validity, and responsiveness in stroke patients. The S-STREAM is recommended because it is short, responsive to change, and able to discriminate patients with severe or mild stroke.
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Neurorehabil Neural Repair · Jul 2008
Motor cortical disinhibition during early and late recovery after stroke.
Functional neuroimaging studies show adaptive changes in areas adjacent and distant from the stroke. This longitudinal study assessed whether changes in cortical excitability in affected and unaffected motor areas after acute stroke correlates with functional and motor recovery. ⋯ During early days after stroke, motor cortical disinhibition involves both cerebral hemispheres. Longitudinal changes in motor disinhibition of the unaffected hemisphere may reflect the degree of clinical motor recovery.
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Neurorehabil Neural Repair · Jul 2008
Endurance and resistance exercise training programs elicit specific effects on sciatic nerve regeneration after experimental traumatic lesion in rats.
To evaluate the effects of endurance, resistance, and a combination of both types of exercise training on hindlimb motor function recovery and nerve regeneration after experimental sciatic nerve lesion in rats. ⋯ These data provide evidence that endurance training improves sciatic nerve regeneration after an experimental traumatic injury and that resistance training or the combination of 2 strategies may delay functional recovery and do not alter sciatic nerve fiber regeneration.
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Neurorehabil Neural Repair · May 2008
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyIntensive sensorimotor arm training mediated by therapist or robot improves hemiparesis in patients with chronic stroke.
Investigators have demonstrated that a variety of intensive movement training protocols for persistent upper limb paralysis in patients with chronic stroke (6 months or more after stroke) improve motor outcome. This randomized controlled study determined in patients with upper limb motor impairment after chronic stroke whether movement therapy delivered by a robot or by a therapist using an intensive training protocol was superior. ⋯ These data contribute to the growing awareness that persistent impairments in those with chronic stroke may not reflect exhausted capacity for improvement. These new protocols, rendered by either therapist or robot, can be standardized, tested, and replicated, and potentially will contribute to rational activity-based programs.