Variation in brain connectivity during motor imagery and motor execution in stroke patients based on electroencephalography

Dongju Guo; Jinglu Hu; Dezheng Wang; Chongfeng Wang; Shouwei Yue; Fangzhou Xu; Yang Zhang

doi:10.3389/fnins.2024.1330280

Variation in brain connectivity during motor imagery and motor execution in stroke patients based on electroencephalography

Front Neurosci. 2024 Feb 2:18:1330280. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1330280. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Dongju Guo¹, Jinglu Hu¹, Dezheng Wang¹, Chongfeng Wang², Shouwei Yue¹, Fangzhou Xu², Yang Zhang^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Rehabilitation Center, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
² International School for Optoelectronic Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan, China.
³ Rehabilitation and Physical Therapy Department, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated Hospital, Jinan, Shandong, China.

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze the changes in connectivity between motor imagery (MI) and motor execution (ME) in the premotor area (PMA) and primary motor cortex (MA) of the brain, aiming to explore suitable forms of treatment and potential therapeutic targets.

Methods: Twenty-three inpatients with stroke were selected, and 21 right-handed healthy individuals were recruited. EEG signal during hand MI and ME (synergy and isolated movements) was recorded. Correlations between functional brain areas during MI and ME were compared.

Results: PMA and MA were significantly and positively correlated during hand MI in all participants. The power spectral density (PSD) values of PMA EEG signals were greater than those of MA during MI and ME in both groups. The functional connectivity correlation was higher in the stroke group than in healthy people during MI, especially during left-handed MI. During ME, functional connectivity correlation in the brain was more enhanced during synergy movements than during isolated movements. The regions with abnormal functional connectivity were in the 18th lead of the left PMA area.

Conclusion: Left-handed MI may be crucial in MI therapy, and the 18th lead may serve as a target for non-invasive neuromodulation to promote further recovery of limb function in patients with stroke. This may provide support for the EEG theory of neuromodulation therapy for hemiplegic patients.

Keywords: electroencephalography; motor execution; motor imagery; premotor area; primary motor cortex; stroke.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The authors received the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The project was supported in part by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2022JC013), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province of China (No. ZR202102200383), the Program for Youth Innovative Research Team in the University of Shandong Province in China (No. 2019KJN010), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82172535), and Major Science and Technology Innovation Project in Shandong Province (No. 2019JZZY011112).