Investigating the Motor Cortex Network on Stroke Patients During Recovery with fMRI

摘要

The aim of the study was to investigate the functional activation areas in cerebral cortex, and assess the connectivity of motor cortex networks after stroke during recovery. Five patients having infarct in the left brain hemisphere were included in the study. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed in the second, fourth, eighth and sixteenth week after stroke. Images were analyzed using SPM5 and bilateral activation of motor cortex during left and right handgrip was obtained. Motor cortex network was extracted with the active areas; the structural and functional characteristics of motor cortex network were computed to indicate the connectivity of the network. Results of the present study suggest that ipsilesional hemisphere recruits more areas with less active extent during handgrip compared with the contralesional hemisphere. The motor cortex network shows higher overall degree of statistical independence and more statistical dependence among the motor regions with gradual recovery. This finding may reflect a recovery process.