Article

Deficiencies in motor control are one of the largest challenges faced
by stroke survivors in regaining their This study investigated movement efficiency in people with and without stroke during
both unimanual and bimanual upper extremity reaching tasks.
METHOD: Twenty-five
participants (12 with stroke and 13 age-matched controls) between the ages of
36-69 years randomly experienced testing conditions involving reaching forward
unimanually and bimanually at a preferred speed in a single session. Kinematic
and kinetic outcomes included movement time, movement units, peak velocity, and
percentage of movement time to peak velocity. RESULTS: In stroke participants,
the unimpaired limb accommodated its movements to that of the less efficient
paretic limb during bimanual conditions indicating yoked movement efficiency
because its performance was more efficient (P < 0.05) in unilateral trials,
whereas the impaired limb's performance did not differ between the unimanual and
bimanual conditions (P>0.05). Control subjects elicited greater movement
efficiency than participants with stroke. CONCLUSION: Motor efficiency of the
unimpaired upper extremity may be adversely influenced when yoked with the
impaired limb during symmetrical simple movements in persons with stroke. As
such, motor efficiency is not exclusively limited to the impaired side, the
effects of which may be task dependent.

Langue : ANGLAIS