TY - JOUR
T1 - Neural correlates of within-session practice effects in mild motor impairment after stroke
T2 - a preliminary investigation
AU - Regan, Elizabeth
AU - Fridriksson, Julius
AU - Schaefer, Sydney Y.
AU - Rorden, Chris
AU - Bonilha, Leonardo
AU - Lingo VanGilder, Jennapher
AU - Stewart, Jill Campbell
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01 DC014664, T32 GM081740, K01 AG047926, F31 AG062057) and the American Heart Association (15SDG24970011).
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - While the structural integrity of the corticospinal tract (CST) has been shown to support motor performance after stroke, the neural correlates of within-session practice effects are not known. The purpose of this preliminary investigation was to examine the structural brain correlates of within-session practice effects on a functional motor task completed with the more impaired arm after stroke. Eleven individuals with mild motor impairment (mean age 57.0 ± 9.4 years, mean months post-stroke 37.0 ± 66.1, able to move ≥ 26 blocks on the Box and Blocks Test) due to left hemisphere stroke completed structural MRI and practiced a functional motor task that involved spooning beans from a start cup to three distal targets. Performance on the motor task improved with practice (p = 0.004), although response was variable. Baseline motor performance (Block 1) correlated with integrity of the CST (r = − 0.696) while within-session practice effects (change from Block 1 to Block 3) did not. Instead, practice effects correlated with degree of lesion to the superior longitudinal fasciculus (r = 0.606), a pathway that connects frontal and parietal brain regions previously shown to support motor learning. This difference between white matter tracts associated with baseline motor performance and within-session practice effects may have implications for understanding response to motor practice and the application of brain-focused intervention approaches aimed at improving hand function after stroke.
AB - While the structural integrity of the corticospinal tract (CST) has been shown to support motor performance after stroke, the neural correlates of within-session practice effects are not known. The purpose of this preliminary investigation was to examine the structural brain correlates of within-session practice effects on a functional motor task completed with the more impaired arm after stroke. Eleven individuals with mild motor impairment (mean age 57.0 ± 9.4 years, mean months post-stroke 37.0 ± 66.1, able to move ≥ 26 blocks on the Box and Blocks Test) due to left hemisphere stroke completed structural MRI and practiced a functional motor task that involved spooning beans from a start cup to three distal targets. Performance on the motor task improved with practice (p = 0.004), although response was variable. Baseline motor performance (Block 1) correlated with integrity of the CST (r = − 0.696) while within-session practice effects (change from Block 1 to Block 3) did not. Instead, practice effects correlated with degree of lesion to the superior longitudinal fasciculus (r = 0.606), a pathway that connects frontal and parietal brain regions previously shown to support motor learning. This difference between white matter tracts associated with baseline motor performance and within-session practice effects may have implications for understanding response to motor practice and the application of brain-focused intervention approaches aimed at improving hand function after stroke.
KW - Diffusion imaging
KW - Motor practice
KW - Stroke
KW - Upper extremity
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U2 - 10.1007/s00221-020-05964-y
DO - 10.1007/s00221-020-05964-y
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85094638239
JO - Experimental Brain Research
JF - Experimental Brain Research
SN - 0014-4819
ER -