Hand Grip and Load Force Coordination of the Ipsilesional Hand of Chronic Stroke Individuals

Author(s)

Cunha, Bianca P. ^[1] ; Freitas, Sandra M. S. F. ^{[2, 3, 4]} ; Gomes, Georgia F. O. ^[2] ; de Freitas, Paulo B. ^{[3, 4, 1]}

Affiliation

^[1] Cruzeiro do Sul Univ, Interdisciplinary Grad Program Hlth Sci, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Cidade Sao Paulo, Phys Therapy, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[3] Penn State Univ, Milton S Hershey Med Ctr, Dept Neurol, Hershey, PA - USA

^[4] Penn State Univ, Dept Kinesiol, University Pk, PA - USA

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF MOTOR BEHAVIOR; v. 51, n. 6, p. 610-621, NOV 2 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Object manipulation depends on a refined control of grip force (GF) and load force (LF). After a brain injury, the GF control is altered in the paretic hand but what happens with the non-paretic hand is still unclear. In this study, we compared the GF control and GF-LF coordination of the non-paretic hand of 10 stroke individuals who suffered right brain damage (RBD) and 10 who suffered left brain damage (LBD), with 20 healthy individuals during lifting and oscillation task, using an instrumented object. GF was recorded with a force transducer, and LF was estimated from the object weight and acceleration. Overall, the ipsilesional hand of stroke individuals, independent of the lesion side, presented similar GF control and GF-LF coordination. However, LBD individuals took longer to start lifting the object, which may be due to the need of more time to obtain somatosensory information from the contact with the object. The findings indicate that stroke individuals preserve their ability to control and coordinate GF and LF when using their ipsilesional hand for object manipulation and the left hemisphere may play an essential role in the processing of somatosensory information needed for the GF control. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 10/02939-4 - Hand function in neuropathic diabetic patients: control and coordination of forces acting on the digits-object interaction in manipulation tasks
• Grantee: Paulo Barbosa de Freitas Júnior
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants