Cognitive alterations in motor imagery process after left hemispheric ischemic stroke.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Motor imagery training offers potential for stroke rehabilitation.
• Neural mechanisms underlying motor imagery in stroke patients require further investigation.
• This study examines cognitive alterations in left hemispheric stroke patients during motor imagery tasks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate cognitive alterations in stroke patients during motor imagery.
• To analyze neural mechanisms, including event-related potentials and beta-band synchronization, during a mental rotation task.
• To compare cortical activation patterns between stroke patients and healthy controls.

Main Methods:

• Eleven left hemispheric ischemic stroke patients and eleven age-matched controls performed a mental rotation task (MRT).
• Behavioral performance (response time, accuracy), event-related potentials (ERPs), and event-related (de)synchronization (ERD/ERS) in the beta band were analyzed.
• Cortical activation was assessed across different cognitive sub-stages of the task.

Main Results:

• Stroke patients exhibited impaired performance in the MRT with longer response times and lower accuracy.
• Early cognitive processing showed hypo-activation in frontal and central areas in stroke patients (P200, ERD).
• During mental rotation, stroke patients displayed altered P300 modulation and lateralization, with overall cortical hypo-activation (ERD). Response sub-stage showed reduced ERD in stroke patients, particularly for the affected hand.

Conclusions:

• Left hemispheric stroke significantly alters cortical activation across distinct cognitive sub-stages of motor imagery.
• Findings provide insights into the neural underpinnings of mental rotation deficits post-stroke.
• Results may inform the development of tailored motor imagery-based rehabilitation strategies for stroke survivors.