Abstract
Brain connectivity has been employed to investigate on post-stroke recovery mechanisms and assess the effect of specific rehabilitation interventions. Changes in interhemispheric coupling after stroke have been related to the extent of damage in the corticospinal tract (CST) and thus, to motor impairment. In this study, we aimed at defining an index of interhemispheric connectivity derived from electroencephalography (EEG), correlated with CST integrity and clinical impairment. Thirty sub-acute stroke patients underwent clinical and neurophysiological evaluation: CST integrity was assessed by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and high-density EEG was recorded at rest. Connectivity was assessed by means of Partial Directed Coherence and the normalized Inter-Hemispheric Strength (nIHS) was calculated for each patient and frequency band on the whole network and in three sub-networks relative to the frontal, central (sensorimotor) and occipital areas. Interhemipheric coupling as expressed by nIHS on the whole network was significantly higher in patients with preserved CST integrity in beta and gamma bands. The same index estimated for the three sub-networks showed significant differences only in the sensorimotor area in lower beta, with higher values in patients with preserved CST integrity. The sensorimotor lower beta nIHS showed a significant positive correlation with clinical impairment. We propose an EEG-based connectivity index which is a measure of the interhemispheric cross-talking and correlates with functional motor impairment in subacute stroke patients. Such index could be employed to evaluate the effects of training aimed at re-establishing interhemispheric balance and eventually drive the design of future connectivity-driven rehabilitation interventions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 158-163 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | European Journal of Neuroscience |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - Dec 15 2017 |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- corticospinal tract
- effective connectivity
- interhemispheric communication
- transcranial magnetic stimulation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neuroscience(all)
Cite this
An EEG index of sensorimotor interhemispheric coupling after unilateral stroke : clinical and neurophysiological study. / Pichiorri, Floriana; Petti, Manuela; Caschera, Stefano; Astolfi, Laura; Cincotti, Febo; Mattia, Donatella.
In: European Journal of Neuroscience, Vol. 47, No. 2, 15.12.2017, p. 158-163.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - An EEG index of sensorimotor interhemispheric coupling after unilateral stroke
T2 - clinical and neurophysiological study
AU - Pichiorri, Floriana
AU - Petti, Manuela
AU - Caschera, Stefano
AU - Astolfi, Laura
AU - Cincotti, Febo
AU - Mattia, Donatella
PY - 2017/12/15
Y1 - 2017/12/15
N2 - Brain connectivity has been employed to investigate on post-stroke recovery mechanisms and assess the effect of specific rehabilitation interventions. Changes in interhemispheric coupling after stroke have been related to the extent of damage in the corticospinal tract (CST) and thus, to motor impairment. In this study, we aimed at defining an index of interhemispheric connectivity derived from electroencephalography (EEG), correlated with CST integrity and clinical impairment. Thirty sub-acute stroke patients underwent clinical and neurophysiological evaluation: CST integrity was assessed by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and high-density EEG was recorded at rest. Connectivity was assessed by means of Partial Directed Coherence and the normalized Inter-Hemispheric Strength (nIHS) was calculated for each patient and frequency band on the whole network and in three sub-networks relative to the frontal, central (sensorimotor) and occipital areas. Interhemipheric coupling as expressed by nIHS on the whole network was significantly higher in patients with preserved CST integrity in beta and gamma bands. The same index estimated for the three sub-networks showed significant differences only in the sensorimotor area in lower beta, with higher values in patients with preserved CST integrity. The sensorimotor lower beta nIHS showed a significant positive correlation with clinical impairment. We propose an EEG-based connectivity index which is a measure of the interhemispheric cross-talking and correlates with functional motor impairment in subacute stroke patients. Such index could be employed to evaluate the effects of training aimed at re-establishing interhemispheric balance and eventually drive the design of future connectivity-driven rehabilitation interventions.
AB - Brain connectivity has been employed to investigate on post-stroke recovery mechanisms and assess the effect of specific rehabilitation interventions. Changes in interhemispheric coupling after stroke have been related to the extent of damage in the corticospinal tract (CST) and thus, to motor impairment. In this study, we aimed at defining an index of interhemispheric connectivity derived from electroencephalography (EEG), correlated with CST integrity and clinical impairment. Thirty sub-acute stroke patients underwent clinical and neurophysiological evaluation: CST integrity was assessed by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and high-density EEG was recorded at rest. Connectivity was assessed by means of Partial Directed Coherence and the normalized Inter-Hemispheric Strength (nIHS) was calculated for each patient and frequency band on the whole network and in three sub-networks relative to the frontal, central (sensorimotor) and occipital areas. Interhemipheric coupling as expressed by nIHS on the whole network was significantly higher in patients with preserved CST integrity in beta and gamma bands. The same index estimated for the three sub-networks showed significant differences only in the sensorimotor area in lower beta, with higher values in patients with preserved CST integrity. The sensorimotor lower beta nIHS showed a significant positive correlation with clinical impairment. We propose an EEG-based connectivity index which is a measure of the interhemispheric cross-talking and correlates with functional motor impairment in subacute stroke patients. Such index could be employed to evaluate the effects of training aimed at re-establishing interhemispheric balance and eventually drive the design of future connectivity-driven rehabilitation interventions.
KW - corticospinal tract
KW - effective connectivity
KW - interhemispheric communication
KW - transcranial magnetic stimulation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85040605093&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85040605093&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/ejn.13797
DO - 10.1111/ejn.13797
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85040605093
VL - 47
SP - 158
EP - 163
JO - European Journal of Neuroscience
JF - European Journal of Neuroscience
SN - 0953-816X
IS - 2
ER -