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. 2006 Jan;37(1):246-7.
doi: 10.1161/01.STR.0000195130.16843.ac. Epub 2005 Dec 1.

Effects of somatosensory stimulation on use-dependent plasticity in chronic stroke

Lumy Sawaki  1 , Carolyn W-H Wu, Alain Kaelin-Lang, Leonardo G Cohen
Affiliations

Effects of somatosensory stimulation on use-dependent plasticity in chronic stroke

Lumy Sawaki et al. Stroke. 2006 Jan.

Abstract

Background and purpose: There is a need to develop strategies to enhance the beneficial effects of motor training, including use-dependent plasticity (UDP), in neurorehabilitation. Peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) modulates motor cortical excitability in healthy humans and could influence training effects in stroke patients.

Methods: We compared the ability of PNS applied to the (1) arm, (2) leg, and (3) idle time to influence training effects in the paretic hand in 7 chronic stroke patients. The end point measure was the magnitude of UDP.

Results: UDP was more prominent with arm stimulation (increased by 22.8%) than with idle time (by 2.9%) or leg stimulation (by 6.4%).

Conclusions: PNS applied to the paretic limb paired with motor training enhances training effects on cortical plasticity in stroke patients.

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