Spasticity and weakness (spastic paresis) are the primary motor impairments after stroke and impose significant challenges for treatment and patient care. Spasticity emerges and disappears in the course of complete motor recovery. Spasticity and motor recovery are both related to neural plasticity after stroke. However, the relation between the two remains poorly understood among clinicians and...

Recovery of motor function after stroke may occur over weeks or months and is often attributed to cerebral reorganization. We have investigated the longitudinal relationship between recovery after stroke and task-related brain activation during a motor task as measured using functional MRI (fMRI). Eight first-ever stroke patients presenting with hemiparesis resulting from cerebral infarction sp...

Despite intensive research on mechanisms of recovery of function after stroke, surprisingly little is known about determinants of concurrent recovery of language and motor functions in single patients. The alternative hypotheses are that the two functions might either "fight for resources" or use the same mechanisms in the recovery process. Here, we present follow-up data of four exemplary pati...

OBJECTIVE To examine whether the pattern of brain activation induced by a motor task and the motor responses to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) have prognostic implications for motor recovery after stroke. METHOD Ten patients with first-ever subcortical stroke (55.7±17.3 years, 5 ischemic and 5 hemorrhagic) underwent 2 FDG PET studies under different conditions (1: rest, 2: activation...

Background. In team sports, according to perform variety of motor skills, development of special bio-motor abilities and imposed proper exercise stress, hematologic adaptations following exercise will be different. Objectives. Therefore, the aim of this study was the effects of six weeks combined training program on hematological parameters in elite basketball players. Methods. Fifteen athl...

Objective. To investigate the relationship between changes of cortical hand motor representation and motor recovery of the affected hand in subacute stroke. Methods. 17 patients with motor impairment of the affected hand were enrolled in an in-patient neurological rehabilitation program. Hand motor function tests (Wolf Motor Function Test, Action Research Arm Test) and neurophysiological evalua...

conclusions the findings showed that adding sufentanil or midazolam to bupivacaine shortens the onset of spinal anesthesia and increases the time duration of anesthesia; however it does not change the motor block recovery time. adding sufentanil delays the first request for narcotic analgesics while adding midazolam leads to a decrease in nausea and hypotension. adding sufentanil or midazolam d...