A Single Session of Robot-Controlled Proprioceptive Training Modulates Functional Connectivity of Sensory Motor Networks and Improves Reaching Accuracy in Chronic Stroke.

Ten patients is too few to show a treatment effect, and there was no control group, so some changes could have happened without training. Only six patients could do the active reaching test, so the reaching result applies to a subset with enough voluntary control. The study looked at immediate effects about 2 hours after training, not weeks of therapy or lasting recovery. No muscle activity was recorded during the movements, so some brain changes could be related to coactivation rather than purely passive sensory input. Patients had varied lesion size and deficits, and only unaffected-hemisphere seed regions were analysed, so network findings may not map onto every stroke. The seed-based analysis did not find a statistically reliable link between connectivity changes and behavioral improvements, so the brain-behavior link is not established.

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Do not conclude that one session of robot proprioceptive training is an effective stroke rehabilitation treatment. The study had no control group, only ten patients, and only six could perform active reaching, so the immediate changes may not prove a lasting treatment effect.