Functional Coupling between Hand Muscles during Dynamic Handgrip Exercise in Post-Stroke Patients

Authors

  • Ming Tang Malaysia University of Science and Technology, Block B, Encorp Strand Garden Office, No. 12, Jalan PJU 5/5
  • Weay Ang Ling Malaysia University of Science and Technology, Block B, Encorp Strand Garden Office, No. 12, Jalan PJU 5/5, Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya 47810, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Palaniappan Sellappan Malaysia University of Science and Technology, Block B, Encorp Strand Garden Office, No. 12, Jalan PJU 5/5, Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya 47810, Selangor, Malaysia

Keywords:

Stroke, handgrip exercise, sEMG, wavelet coherence

Abstract

Stroke results in impairments of motor function, which are frequently assessed by using clinical scales. However, these scales can only reflect patients’ global motor performance and may not be sensitive to subtle changes in motor function. This study investigates functional coupling between hand muscles during dynamic handgrip exercise in post-stroke patients. Ten post-stroke patients with chronic hemiparesis and 10 healthy young aduts were recruited into this study. The subjects performed dynamic handgrip exercise at 30% maximal voluntary contraction while surface electromyographic (sEMG) signals from the flexor digitorum superficialis (FDS), flexor carpi ulnaris (FCU), and extensor carpi ulnaris (ECU) were recorded. Wavelet coherence between the sEMG signals within the frequency bands 0-5 Hz, 8-12 Hz (band), 15-35 Hz ( band), and 35-60 Hz ( band) was quantified by the area under the time-avereged coherence function of the original data and above the threshold obtained from surrogates.

The resuts showed that changes in EMG-EMG coherence caused by handgrip exercise in post-stroke patients differed from that in healthy controls and that these changes were muscle pair specific and particularly frequency band specific. During the handgrip period, EMG-EMG coherence for the muscle pair FDS/FCU showed a significantly higher value in the  band and a significantly lower value in the  band in post-stroke patients compared to healthy controls; for the muscle pair FCU/ECU, coherence showed a significantly higher value in the  band and a significantly lower value in the  band inpost-stroke patients. These findings contribute to a better understanding of altered control mechanisms of hand muscles in post-stroke patients, which could be useful in the development of diagnostic and treatment strategies.

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Published

2024-05-26

How to Cite

Ming Tang, Weay Ang Ling, & Palaniappan Sellappan. (2024). Functional Coupling between Hand Muscles during Dynamic Handgrip Exercise in Post-Stroke Patients. International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research (IJSBAR), 73(1), 19–30. Retrieved from https://gssrr.org/index.php/JournalOfBasicAndApplied/article/view/16595

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Vol. 73 No. 1 (2024)

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Articles

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