Toward Neuromuscular coordination-guided (NeuroCoord-guided) neurorehabilitation after stroke

Impaired, stereotypical motor coordination emerges during stroke recovery due to abnormal co-activation of muscles, a key contributor to motor impairments in over 7 million stroke survivors in the US. Spontaneous recovery does not fully resolve abnormal muscle coordination. Thus, there is a critical need to develop effective ways to reduce impaired intermuscular coordination for stroke recovery. Our previous studies show that stroke alters intermuscular coordination patterns. The alteration depends on the severity of motor impairment in stroke survivors. Recent studies of myoelectric signal-guided studies have shown that neuromuscular coordination-guided intervention can decrease motor impairment, improve motor function, intermuscular coordination, and corticomuscular connectivity. In this seminar, I will discuss the quantification of motor impairment and the development of novel neurorehabilitation strategies in the upper extremity after stroke, inspired by neuromuscular coordination principles.