Effect of Post-Stroke Motor Training on EEG Movement-Related Cortical Potentials

Abstract BackgroundRehabilitation of post-stroke patients with motor impairments promotes re-learning of lost motor functions through the brain neuroplasticity. Monitoring of electroencephalogram (EEG) signals has the potential to show neuroplasticity changes that take place during motor training.MethodsIn this study, an EEG-derived time-domain pattern namely movement-related cortical potential (MRCP) was deployed to assess the effect of motor training in seven post-stroke patients. Patients were divided into two groups; group A comprising four subjects with supratentorial lesions and group B consisting of three subjects with infratentorial lesions. Both groups participated in motor training with an AMADEO hand rehabilitation device. During pre and post-training periods, EEG signals at eight selected electrodes were recorded. In addition, hand-kinematic parameters, and clinical tests were measured at the beginning and the end of all training sessions.ResultsThe negative peak of the MRCP signals decreased at all electrodes and reached significance in seven of eight electrodes for group A after 12 training sessions, while it was decreased at all electrodes and reached significance in two of eight electrodes for group B after 24 sessions according to paired t-test (p < 0.05). Moreover, these MRCP changes correlated with improvements in kinematic parameters and clinical test results for both groups.ConclusionsThis study shows that robot-assisted training that improves clinical outcomes is associated with MRCP pattern changes. Subjects with infratentorial strokes improved slower clinically compared to subjects with supratentorial strokes. This was consistent with the longer rehabilitation required for this group of patients to produce significant changes in MRCP. The reduction of negative peaks of the MRCP signal indicates that neurological pathways are established and less cortical resources are needed for motor tasks. This study demonstrates the significance of EEG as a practical and low-cost tool in detecting patterns associated with brain neuroplasticity in the course of motor re-learning. Ethics ApprovalThe procedures performed in this study were approved by the University of Wollongong Ethics Committee (Ethics application number: 2014/400) on 03/07/2017.