Urska Puh1,
Andrej Vovk2, Igor Sera3, Dusan Suput4
1University of Ljubljana, Faculty of
Health Sciences, Ljubljana, Slovenia; 2Pathophysiology, Univ. of
Ljubljana Faculty of Medicine, Ljubljana, Slovenia; 3Institut
Jozef Stefan, Slovenia; 4Pathophysiology, Univ. of Ljubljana
Faculty of Medicine, Slovenia
12
patients with partially impaired function of one upper extremity 2-8 days
after first ischemic stroke participated in the study. A 1.5 T scanner was
used for brain fMRI during upper extremity functional tasks in the first and
third week and 3 months after the stroke. Muscle strength and dexterity of
the HPE were measured concomitantly. Spearman correlation coefficient was
calculated to compare the M1 activation of each brain hemisphere and the
motor characteristics of the HPE. Recovery of HPE function correlated well
with the intensity and/or area of M1 cortex activation mainly in the
ipsilesional hemisphere.