Post-stroke deficits in the anticipatory control and bimanual coordination during naturalistic cooperative bimanual action.
Cory A Potts, Shailesh S Kantak
PMID 37950249WHAT IT FOUND
People with right-hemisphere stroke showed the poorest anticipatory force scaling when lifting a weighted box.
Both stroke groups had impaired coordination in the paretic hand, but adding weight improved how well the two hands worked together, suggesting some capacity was masked by low demand.
Key findings
01The right-hemisphere stroke group showed the smallest increase in grip force rate when the box was weighted, indicating impaired anticipatory planning compared to controls.
02Both stroke groups had worse grip-load force coordination in the paretic hand than in the non-paretic hand, and this impairment was linked to motor and sensory deficits.
03Coordination between the two hands improved when the box was weighted compared to when it was unweighted, for both stroke groups and controls.
STILL TO COME
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What it does not show
The control group was small (N=8), which may limit the generalizability of hand asymmetry findings. The study did not test unimanual actions, so it is unclear if planning deficits are specific to bimanual coordination or reflect a broader motor planning issue. Several task parameters, such as hand placement and lift height, were not strictly constrained, which could influence force profiles. Sample size estimation for linear mixed effects models is difficult, so three-way interactions should be interpreted with caution. Participants were chronic stroke survivors who could transfer at least 10 blocks with the affected hand, so findings may not apply to those with more severe impairment.
Declared interests
Funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that right-hemisphere stroke causes worse bimanual coordination overall. The study found that coordination actually improved with added weight for all groups. The specific deficit in the right-hemisphere group was in anticipatory force scaling, not the ability to synchronize hands once lifting began.