Coordinated Activity of Motor Units in the Triceps Surae and Tibialis Anterior in Chronic Stroke
摘要
Loss of independent joint control is characteristic of post-stroke motor impairment, resulting in altered muscle coordination. Using high-density electromyography, coordination at the motor neuron level has been analyzed in healthy individuals but not in individuals post-stroke. The objective is to investigate motor neuron coordination in chronic stroke patients. To this end, sixteen patients underwent clinical assessments and then motor neuron activity and coordination was measured and extracted from high-density electromyography signals during isometric plantarflexion and dorsiflexion. The affected limb had lower discharge rates for Subject 2 who also had greater clinical impairments. Both subjects also qualitatively had greater coefficients of cross correlation in the impaired limb. Additionally, the affected limb of Subject 1 had a greater variance explained by the first component. This is the first study to investigate the motor neuron coordination post-stroke to determine if the altered synergistic control of muscles stems from the motor neuron level.