Human Performance in Rehabilitation
Objective: Assess and monitor abnormal patterns of muscle activation and motor unit coordination during opening and closing of the hand in healthy subjects and stroke survivors affected by spastic co-contractions.
Results
Motor unit data revealed specific alterations in the modulation of motor unit firings across muscles. A high level of correlation with off-phase peaks of motor unit activation was typically evident in healthy individuals, with flexor and extensor muscles distinctively contributing to closing and opening of the hand, respectively. In contrast, a lack of correlation and inter-muscle modulation characterized impaired motor function of spastic stroke survivors.
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