Samia Aboushoushah1, Xia Lin2, Richard Bowtell1, Margaret Phillips2, Cris Constantinescu3, Susan Francis1
1School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK; 2Division of Rehabilitation and ageing, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK; 3Division of Clinical Neurology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
This work assesses the use of electromyography (EMG) guided analysis of fMRI data in the study of the cortical response to ankle dorsiflexion (ADF) movements. The quality of the EMG signal in the MR environment has been assessed, and EMG-guided analysis compared to conventional analysis for the study of active, passive and electrical stimulation induced ADF movements in healthy volunteers. Reproducibility of fMRI responses for each ADF movement were compared across sessions. The methods described serve as proof of principle for the study of cortical changes following a longitudinal course of FES therapy in patients with MS and stroke.