Mobility Function and Recovery After Stroke: Preliminary Insights From Sympathetic Nervous System Activity

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Poststroke hemiparesis significantly increases walking difficulty.
• Self-reported walking challenge is prone to measurement bias.
• Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity via skin conductance offers objective stress response measurement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of using skin conductance to objectively measure walking challenge in adults poststroke.
• To investigate task-related differences in physiological stress during complex walking.

Main Methods:

• 31 adults poststroke and 8 healthy controls performed varied walking tasks.
• Skin conductance (ΔSCL, ΔSCR) and spatiotemporal gait parameters were recorded.
• A subset of participants underwent a 12-week rehabilitation intervention.

Main Results:

• Skin conductance significantly increased during obstacle and dual-task walking compared to typical walking in the stroke group.
• Stroke participants displayed cautious gait (slower speed, shorter/wider steps) during challenging tasks.
• Rehabilitation led to a significant decrease in SNS activity for challenging walking tasks.

Conclusions:

• Skin conductance is a feasible method for quantifying walking challenge in poststroke individuals.
• Reduced SNS activity post-rehabilitation indicates a diminished physiological stress response to complex walking.