Abstract #0698

Connectivity Alterations in Motor-Related Areas Suggest Neuroplasticity in Chronic Stroke

Dionyssios Mintzopoulos^1,2, Loukas G. Astrakas^1,3, Azadeh Khanicheh⁴, Angelos A. Konstas⁵, Michael A. Moskowitz^2,6, Bruce R. Rosen⁵, A. Aria Tzika^1,2

¹NMR Surgical Laboratory, MGH & Shriners Hospitals, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; ²Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Boston, MA, USA; ³Medical Physics, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece, USA; ⁴Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; ⁵Radiology, MGH, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; ⁶Neuroscience Center, Neurology and Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

Using a hand motor task, we investigated functional reorganization of motor systems by probing connectivity between motor related areas in chronic stroke patients undergoing training with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 3T combined with a novel MR-compatible hand-induced robotic device (MR_CHIROD). The results demonstrate that rehabilitation training enhances the connectivity between motor areas in chronic stroke patients that may help counterbalance a functionally abnormal M1 motor area in stroke patients thus suggesting neuroplasticity in chronic stroke.