Dataset Information

Domiciliary VR-Based Therapy for Functional Recovery and Cortical Reorganization: Randomized Controlled Trial in Participants at the Chronic Stage Post Stroke.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Most stroke survivors continue to experience motor impairments even after hospital discharge. Virtual reality-based techniques have shown potential for rehabilitative training of these motor impairments. Here we assess the impact of at-home VR-based motor training on functional motor recovery, corticospinal excitability and cortical reorganization. OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to identify the effects of home-based VR-based motor rehabilitation on (1) cortical reorganization, (2) corticospinal tract, and (3) functional recovery after stroke in comparison to home-based occupational therapy. METHODS:We conducted a parallel-group, controlled trial to compare the effectiveness of domiciliary VR-based therapy with occupational therapy in inducing motor recovery of the upper extremities. A total of 35 participants with chronic stroke underwent 3 weeks of home-based treatment. A group of subjects was trained using a VR-based system for motor rehabilitation, while the control group followed a conventional therapy. Motor function was evaluated at baseline, after the intervention, and at 12-weeks follow-up. In a subgroup of subjects, we used Navigated Brain Stimulation (NBS) procedures to measure the effect of the interventions on corticospinal excitability and cortical reorganization. RESULTS:Results from the system's recordings and clinical evaluation showed significantly greater functional recovery for the experimental group when compared with the control group (1.53, SD 2.4 in Chedoke Arm and Hand Activity Inventory). However, functional improvements did not reach clinical significance. After the therapy, physiological measures obtained from a subgroup of subjects revealed an increased corticospinal excitability for distal muscles driven by the pathological hemisphere, that is, abductor pollicis brevis. We also observed a displacement of the centroid of the cortical map for each tested muscle in the damaged hemisphere, which strongly correlated with improvements in clinical scales. CONCLUSIONS:These findings suggest that, in chronic stages, remote delivery of customized VR-based motor training promotes functional gains that are accompanied by neuroplastic changes. TRIAL REGISTRATION:International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number NCT02699398 (Archived by ClinicalTrials.gov at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02699398?term=NCT02699398&rank=1).

SUBMITTER: Ballester BR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5565792 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Domiciliary VR-Based Therapy for Functional Recovery and Cortical Reorganization: Randomized Controlled Trial in Participants at the Chronic Stage Post Stroke.

Ballester Belén Rubio BR Nirme Jens J Camacho Irene I Duarte Esther E Rodríguez Susana S Cuxart Ampar A Duff Armin A Verschure Paul F M J PFMJ

JMIR serious games 20170807 3

<h4>Background</h4>Most stroke survivors continue to experience motor impairments even after hospital discharge. Virtual reality-based techniques have shown potential for rehabilitative training of these motor impairments. Here we assess the impact of at-home VR-based motor training on functional motor recovery, corticospinal excitability and cortical reorganization.<h4>Objective</h4>The aim of this study was to identify the effects of home-based VR-based motor rehabilitation on (1) cortical reo ...[more]

PMID: 28784593

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Project description:Listening to vocal music has been recently shown to improve language recovery in stroke survivors. The neuroplasticity mechanisms supporting this effect are, however, still unknown. Using data from a three-arm single-blind randomized controlled trial including acute stroke patients (N=38) and a 3-month follow-up, we set out to compare the neuroplasticity effects of daily listening to self-selected vocal music, instrumental music, and audiobooks on both brain activity and structural connectivity of the language network. Using deterministic tractography we show that the 3-month intervention induced an enhancement of the microstructural properties of the left frontal aslant tract (FAT) for the vocal music group as compared to the audiobook group. Importantly, this increase in the strength of the structural connectivity of the left FAT correlated with improved language skills. Analyses of stimulus-specific activation changes showed that the vocal music group exhibited increased activations in the frontal termination points of the left FAT during vocal music listening as compared to the audiobook group from acute to 3-month post-stroke stage. The increased activity correlated with the structural neuroplasticity changes in the left FAT. These results suggest that the beneficial effects of vocal music listening on post-stroke language recovery are underpinned by structural neuroplasticity changes within the language network and extend our understanding of music-based interventions in stroke rehabilitation.Significance statementPost-stroke language deficits have a devastating effect on patients and their families. Current treatments yield highly variable outcomes and the evidence for their long-term effects is limited. Patients often receive insufficient treatment that are predominantly given outside the optimal time window for brain plasticity. Post-stroke vocal music listening improves language outcome which is underpinned by neuroplasticity changes within the language network. Vocal music listening provides a complementary rehabilitation strategy which could be safely implemented in the early stages of stroke rehabilitation and seems to specifically target language symptoms and recovering language network.

Project description:Functional neuroimaging studies frequently demonstrated that stroke patients show bilateral activity in motor and premotor areas during movements of the paretic hand in contrast to a more lateralized activation observed in healthy subjects. Moreover, a few studies modeling functional or effective connectivity reported performance-related changes in the motor network after stroke. Here, we investigated the temporal evolution of intra- and interhemispheric (dys-) connectivity during motor recovery from the acute to the early chronic phase post-stroke. Twelve patients performed hand movements in an fMRI task in the acute (≤72 hours) and subacute stage (2 weeks) post-stroke. A subgroup of 10 patients participated in a third assessment in the early chronic stage (3-6 months). Twelve healthy subjects served as reference for brain connectivity. Changes in effective connectivity within a bilateral network comprising M1, premotor cortex (PMC), and supplementary motor area (SMA) were estimated by dynamic causal modeling. Motor performance was assessed by the Action Research Arm Test and maximum grip force. Results showed reduced positive coupling of ipsilesional SMA and PMC with ipsilesional M1 in the acute stage. Coupling parameters among these areas increased with recovery and predicted a better outcome. Likewise, negative influences from ipsilesional areas to contralesional M1 were attenuated in the acute stage. In the subacute stage, contralesional M1 exerted a positive influence on ipsilesional M1. Negative influences from ipsilesional areas on contralesional M1 subsequently normalized, but patients with poorer outcome in the chronic stage now showed enhanced negative coupling from contralesional upon ipsilesional M1. These findings show that the reinstatement of effective connectivity in the ipsilesional hemisphere is an important feature of motor recovery after stroke. The shift of an early, supportive role of contralesional M1 into enhanced inhibitory coupling might indicate maladaptive processes which could be a target of non-invasive brain stimulation techniques.

Dataset Information

Domiciliary VR-Based Therapy for Functional Recovery and Cortical Reorganization: Randomized Controlled Trial in Participants at the Chronic Stage Post Stroke.

Publications

Domiciliary VR-Based Therapy for Functional Recovery and Cortical Reorganization: Randomized Controlled Trial in Participants at the Chronic Stage Post Stroke.

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