Cortical reorganization pattern of stroke patients under upper limb multi-joint linkage task

Motor dysfunction in stroke patients is caused by the brain damage, which greatly affects the life quality of the survivors. It is essential to explore the cortical reorganization pattern of stroke patients for revealing the mechanism of neural remodeling and guiding rehabilitation training. A total of 9 stroke patients and 12 age matched healthy subjects were recruited. Changes of oxyhemoglobin concentration (ΔHbO2) of bilateral prefrontal and motor cortex were measured in resting state and upper limb multi-j oint linkage motor state using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) neuroimaging technique. Cortical activation and functional connectivity were analyzed to describe the brain functional status associated with specific motor task. Results showed that compared with healthy subjects, significantly greater cortical activation was observed in stroke patients in responding to the multi-joint motor of the affected limb. Besides, inter-hemisphere connectivity of bilateral homotopic MC and PFC were significantly lower than healthy controls, however, the connectivity between PFC and MC were significantly higher than healthy controls. The results indicate the brain functional reorganization of stroke patients and offer new insights into the neural basis for cortical plasticity for stroke rehabilitation. To perform complex motor tasks, more brain resources was expended and more brain regions were involved in stroke patients.