Cortico-Cortical Communication During the Preparation for Hand Open Following Stroke and Intervention

Our previous findings with non-disabled participants have demonstrated that the cortical connectivity during the preparation for hand opening exclusively involves β band from the contralateral side. Following a stroke, it is well established that increased and shifted cortical activity occurs during preparation. However, the exact impact of stroke and stroke-related intervention on cortico-cortical-communication remains unknown. To address this question, we compared the cortico-cortical-communication during motor preparation for hand opening between 1) non-disabled individuals and an age-matched moderate-to-severe chronic stroke participants, and 2) pre- and post-intervention in the stroke cohort. Besides confirming the increased complexity in cortico-cortical-communication following stroke, we also found that the stroke induced a negative β-to-β drive from ipsilateral to contralateral M1, and positive γ-to-β drive from supplementary motor area to ipsilateral premotor area, which are opposite from that we observed from non-disabled participants. The intervention made both links more negative, reflecting a further differentiation of activity across hemispheres.