Article

Poststroke fatigue and limb heaviness are 2 perceptual problems that commonly
occur after stroke. Previous work suggests that poststroke fatigue may be related
to altered sensorimotor processing whereas limb heaviness is often considered an
association of muscle weakness. To address the hypothesis that the perception of
limb heaviness may also be a problem of altered sensorimotor control, we
investigated whether it was more closely related to poststroke fatigue or muscle
weakness. In 69 chronic stroke survivors, we found that those with high perceived
limb heaviness (31 individuals) also reported significantly higher levels of
fatigue (4.8/7) than those with no perceived limb heaviness (38 individuals,
fatigue score = 2.68/7), but there was no difference in weakness between the 2
groups. This intriguing finding is discussed in relation to effort perception and
sensory processing. The association between limb heaviness and poststroke fatigue
and a dissociation from muscle weakness gives rise to the hypothesis that limb
heaviness maybe a centrally arising sensorimotor disorder.
CI - (c) The Author(s) 2015.

Langue : ANGLAIS