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Exoskeleton-assisted gait in chronic stroke: An EMG and functional near-infrared spectroscopy study of muscle activation patterns and prefrontal cortex activity.
- Source :
-
Clinical Neurophysiology . Aug2020, Vol. 131 Issue 8, p1775-1781. 7p. - Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- • In chronic stroke patients prefrontal cortex activity is increased during gait. • Walking with exoskeleton is associated to a further increase of prefrontal cortex activity. • Muscular activation patterns of the non-paretic limb modulate prefrontal cortex activity. Gait impairment dramatically affects stroke patients' functional independence. The Ekso™ is a wearable powered exoskeleton able to improve over-ground gait abilities, but the relationship between the cortical gait control mechanisms and lower limbs kinematics is still unclear. Our aims are: to assess whether the Ekso™ induces an attention-demanding process with prefrontal cortex activation during a gait task; to describe the relationship between the gait-induced muscle activation pattern and the prefrontal cortex activity. We enrolled 22 chronic stroke patients and 15 matched controls. We registered prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity with functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) and muscle activation with surface-electromyography (sEMG) during an over-ground gait task, performed with and without the Ekso™. We observed prefrontal cortex activation during normal gait and a higher activation during Ekso-assisted walking among stroke patients. Furthermore, we found that muscle hypo-activation and co-activation of non-paretic limb are associated to a high prefrontal metabolism. Among stroke patients, over-ground gait is an attention-demanding task. Prefrontal activity is modulated both by Ekso-assisted tasks and muscle activation patterns of non-paretic lower limb. Further studies are needed to elucidate if other Ekso™ settings induce different cortical and peripheral effects. This is the first study exploring the relationship between central and peripheral mechanisms during an Ekso-assisted gait task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *PREFRONTAL cortex
*ROBOTIC exoskeletons
*MUSCLES
*LEG
*SPECTROMETRY
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 13882457
- Volume :
- 131
- Issue :
- 8
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Clinical Neurophysiology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 144480206
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2020.04.158