Towards understanding upper limb rehabilitation after stroke

Upper limb stroke rehabilitation provides functional benefits, i.e. improvements in activities of daily living like washing, grooming and eating. But to which extent these improvements are the consequence of restoration of initial sensorimotor impairment or of compensatory adaptations, is currently under debate. The reason for this gap in knowledge is the lack of an integrative multilevel evaluation protocol by means of clinical assessment and objective quantification of upper limb ability. This proof-of-principle project will firstly establish such a standardized evaluation protocol for people post stroke and secondly evaluate the differential effect of upper limb rehabilitation on sensorimotor restoration versus compensatory adaptation. With this knowledge, specific paradigms can be investigated, leading to optimization and personalization of upper limb therapy approaches after stroke.

Keywords:Stroke, Upper Limb, Clinical Outcome, Kinematic Analysis, Sensorimotor Deficits

Disciplines:Orthopaedics, Human movement and sports sciences, Rehabilitation sciences