Article

Stroke patients have major problems with impaired upper-extremity
function. Unfortunately, many patients do not experience a full recovery from
movement deficits in the upper extremities.
The purpose of this study
was to compare the effectiveness of inter-limb learning transfer (ILT) to the
contralateral upper limb after both hemisphere-specific and -unspecific
ipsilateral upper limb training for stroke patients with hemiparesis. METHODS:
Twenty-four stroke patients with hemiparesis participated. The
hemisphere-specific training group performed reaching movements in a customized
training setting in which non-dominant limb training participants began from a
single starting location and proceeded to one of three target locations (1S3T
condition); the dominant limb training participants started from one of three
starting locations and proceeded to a single target location (3S1T condition).
The hemisphere-unspecific training group performed these movements starting under
reverse-start and target conditions. RESULTS: The non-dominant to dominant limb
transfer, the hemisphere-specific training group performance time decreased
significantly as compared with the pre-training session (p < 0.05). Also, the
isolation contraction ratio was decreased significantly from that of the
pre-training session in the biceps brachii muscles and increased significantly in
the upper trapezius muscles (p < 0.05). And, dominant to non-dominant limb
transfer in the hemisphere-specific training group significantly increased RMS
amplitudes from the pre-training session in the biceps brachii and triceps
muscles (p < 0.05). Also, the isolation contraction ratio was increased
significantly from that of the pre-training session in the biceps brachii muscles
and decreased significantly in the upper trapezius muscles (p < 0.05). However,
the hemisphere-unspecific training group showed no significant differences in
inter-limb learning transfer (ILT). CONCLUSION: The transfer of
hemisphere-specific training from one arm to the other had a more positive
influence on functional recovery than did hemisphere-unspecific training for patients with stroke and hemiparesis.

Langue : ANGLAIS