Effects of passive-active movement training on upper limb motor function and cortical activation in chronic patients with stroke:

From the archives of J Rehabil Med. 2004 http://bit.ly/gSMcId Dr. Lindberg and his team from Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation Medicine, Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden show that chronic patients with stroke with paresis of the upper limb who complete 4 weeks of daily functional exercises improve hand motor function and ability. This was accompanied by changes in cortical activation shown by functional magnetic resonance imaging which suggest reorganization of areas related to movements of the paretic limb.

The HandTutor and ArmTutor system allow for customization of virtual functional tasks. The virtual functional tasks provide the patient with visual guidance on how to complete the task and feedback on their success in completing the task. Guidance and feedback allow for better motor learning and optimization of functional performance outcome.