Effects of the multisensory rehabilitation product for home-based hand training after stroke on cortical activation by using NIRS methods.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to assess the effects of the multisensory rehabilitation product for stroke patients on cortical activation response through near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).

METHODS

The music rehabilitation glove (MRG), multisensory rehabilitation product, was developed with a user-centered design concept. The 40-channel NIRS system monitored the cortical activation changes in the motor cortex (MC), prefrontal cortex (PFC), temporal lobe (TL) and occipital lobe (OL) of 22 young subjects during "sequential finger-to-thumb opposition movements (SFTOM)" phase of traditional training and "musical finger-to-thumb opposition movements (MFTOM)" phase of MRG training.

RESULTS

The two phases of training showed significant activation (P < 0.05) in the cerebral cortex compared with baseline, with more activation during MFTOM in the MC, PFC and TL. Compared with SFTOM, there were 22 channels of cortical activation in MFTOM that had significant enhancements (P < 0.05). There was also a significant positive correlation between the prefrontal cortex and motor cortex in the cortical activation.

CONCLUSIONS

According to these results, MFTOM-induced cortical activation in the MC, PFC and TL with visual, auditory and tactile stimuli was stronger than SFTOM, providing evidence that the multisensory stimulation is more beneficial to cortical activation and cognitive control to promote neurological recovery.