Effect of environmental stimulation intervention on plantar pressure symmetry during walking in stroke patients: an...

Stroke is a common disease with an extremely high disability rate. In addition to conventional training, environmental stimulation training is also an effective approach. However, its neuropsychological basis remains unexplored. Through electroencephalography (EEG), the effects of environmental stimulation interventions on brain activity in stroke patients were analyzed to explore the neuropsychological mechanism of functional recovery. The plantar pressure data and EEG data of 30 stroke patients during level-ground walking and environmental stimulation intervention were collected, and the changes in EEG characteristics in different conditions were compared to explore the influence of walking pattern changes on brain activity. Environmental stimulation interventions can significantly improve the symmetry of walking in patients after stroke. Moreover, the main effect of relative power in the alpha, delta, theta and gamma bands of EEG was significant, especially in the prefrontal lobe, left frontal lobe, middle frontal lobe, left and right parietal lobe and occipital lobe of alpha band. A possible neuropsychological mechanism of environmental stimulation intervention is that the capacity of the brain to process information is enhanced during walking under artificially designed environmental intervention, thus improving walking symmetry and correcting abnormal walking patterns, potentially through modulation of attentional networks.