6 research outputs found
Further evidence for a non-cortical origin of mirror movements after stroke.
Ejaz et al. (2018) are to be commended for showing no
evidence for a cortical origin of post-stroke mirror movements.
Using functional MRI during affected-finger presses
in recovering adult-onset stroke patients, they found no
consistent relationship between contralesional sensorimotor
cortex (cSM1) activation and quantitative indices of mirror
movements; specifically, mirror movements were not linked
to the presence of cSM1 overactivation, arguing against the
classic ‘transcallosal’ mechanism heretofore widely believed
to cause mirror movements (Di Pino et al., 2014). We wish
to report findings—previously published in abstract form
(Calautti, 2008)—that further support the idea that
mirror movements are not cortically mediated. We also
present data that confirm that mirror movements can
involve the affected (i.e. paretic) hand during movement
of the unaffected (i.e. non-paretic) hand, also arguing in
favour of disruption of a bilaterally-organized system
Post-stroke plastic reorganisation in the adult brain
Recovery of function after a stroke is attributable to several factors, including events in the first few days (eg, reabsorption of perilesional oedema, tissue reperfusion). However, consistent reorganisation and recovery after a stroke takes weeks or months. In the early stages, recovery from stroke can vary greatly among patients with identical clinical symptoms. Neuroimaging techniques that enable us to assess baseline and task-related functions, and neurophysiological techniques that measure brain function in "real time", can be used to study the recovery of brain lesions after a stroke. In this review, we discuss important neuroimaging and neurophysiological studies of post-stroke brain reorganisation