Abstract #0210

Brain Connectivity and CBF Canges Fllowing Motor Training by MI-BCI Combined with TDCS in Stroke Patients

Xin Hong¹, Yan Zhi Ong², Irvin Teh³, Fatima Ali Nasrallah¹, Zhong Kang Lu⁴, Wei Peng Teo⁵, Cuntai Guan⁴, Kai Keng Ang⁴, Kok Soon Phua⁴, Ling Zhao⁵, Effie Chew⁵, Kai-Hsiang Chuang¹

¹Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, Singapore, Singapore; ²Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore; ³A*STAR-NUS Clinical Imaging Research Centre, Singapore, Singapore; ⁴Institute for Infocomm Research, Singapore, Singapore; ⁵The Division of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine, National University Hospital System, Singapore, Singapore

Perfusion and diffusion MRI were used to understand the plasticity in gray and white matters after motor training in stroke patients with impaired upper extremity. Robot-assisted motor imagery and brain-computer interface (MI-BCI) combined with or without transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) were conducted. Brain CBF change and FA changes along motor related fiber tracts are found after 2 weeks of training and correlate with clinical improvement. tDCS did not show significant effects on motor recovery. These findings will be helpful in understanding the role of neuroplasticity in motor recovery, and in the development of effective therapeutic approach for stroke rehabilitation.