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CASE REPORT article

Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Motor Neuroscience
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1502517
This article is part of the Research Topic Sensorimotor Decoding: Characterization and Modeling for Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies Vol II View all 3 articles

Movement-related neuroplasticity in a patient after spinal cord injury in response to task-oriented bimanual training

Provisionally accepted
Di MA Di MA 1Rongyue ZENG Rongyue ZENG 2Sofina SY CHAN Sofina SY CHAN 2Yu PAN Yu PAN 1*Jack Jiaqi ZHANG Jack Jiaqi ZHANG 2*
  • 1 School of Clinical Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, Beijing, China
  • 2 Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, SAR China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Bimanual motor training is an effective neurological rehabilitation strategy.However, its use has rarely been investigated in patients with paralysis caused by spinal cord injury (SCI). Therefore, we conducted a case study to investigate the effects of robot-assisted task-oriented bimanual training (RBMT) on upper limb function, activities of daily living, and movement-related sensorimotor activity in a patient with SCI.: A patient with bilateral upper limb paresis due to incomplete cervical SCI underwent 20 sessions of RBMT. Functional recovery was measured using clinical scales for upper limb motor function and activities of daily living. Training-induced neuroplasticity was evaluated using event-related desynchronization (ERD) induced by movement of the right hand (the more affected side), recorded on the electroencephalogram (EEG). Results: RBMT improved the patient's upper limb motor function and activity independence. At baseline, our EEG paradigm demonstrated an ipsilateral predominance of movement-related ERD responses over the sensorimotor cortex (SMC) in relation to the moving hand. Following the RBMT, the ERD pattern shifted from being predominantly ipsilateral to a more contralateral allocation.The present case study provides preliminary evidence to support the therapeutic use of RBMT to restore upper limb function in patients with incomplete SCI. The recovery of function might be related to the rebalancing of sensorimotor activation.

    Keywords: spinal cord injury, Upper limb, Robot-assisted training, neuroplasticity, Evenrelated desynchronization

    Received: 01 Oct 2024; Accepted: 18 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 MA, ZENG, CHAN, PAN and ZHANG. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Yu PAN, School of Clinical Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, Beijing, China
    Jack Jiaqi ZHANG, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, SAR China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.