Article

The stroke patients have difficulties in both voluntary muscle
contraction and individual movements. However, there is a lack of quantitative
analysis focusing on decreased finger control in stroke patients.
The purpose of the study was to identify the changes in motor selectivity in stroke
patients during a finger force production task. METHODS: Fifteen stroke patients
and fifteen control subjects were asked to perform maximum voluntary force (MVF)
production during single- and multi-finger force tasks. Finger interaction
indices such as force independence (FI) and force sharing deviation (FSD) were
analyzed using measured individual finger forces. RESULTS: MVF analysis in the
impaired hand of stroke patients showed that they produced 31% or 41% lower force
than their unimpaired hand or the control hand, respectively. For the finger
interaction indices, the stroke patients' impaired hand had lower FI and higher
FSD than their unimpaired hand or the normal subjects' hand. CONCLUSION: The
lower FI and higher FSD show that stroke patients have a limited ability to
produce force independently and to synchronize produced multi-finger force,
respectively. These results have a negative impact on the selectivity of their
motor control. In terms of rehabilitation, we expect that the finger interaction
indices used in the present study can quantify motor selectivity in the damaged
central nervous system.

Langue : ANGLAIS