Electromyographic Analyses of Global Synkinesis in the Paretic Upper Limb After Stroke
By Hwang, Ing-Shiou; Tung, Li-Chen; Yang, Jeng-Feng; Chen, Yi-Ching; Yeh, Chun-Yu; Wang, Chun-Hou; Physical Therapy (PTJ) , Vol. 85, No. 8, pp. 755-765Publication Date: August 2005
Study conducted to analyze the electromyographic (EMG) patterns of people with stroke and people who had not had a stroke in order to characterize global synkinesis development in relation to joint involvement. Global synkinesis, or motor irradiation, is an involuntary movement associated with the coactivation of numerous muscles in one limb when the opposite limb is active. Twenty people who had been diagnosed as having had a stroke and twenty controls participated in the study. A dynamometer was used to evaluate voluntary isometric muscle contractions of the flexor muscle groups of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist, while EMG amplitudes of eight principal muscle groups were used to characterize the intensity and spatial representation of global synkinesis. The intensity of global synkinesis was found to correlate strongly with motor deficits. Implications for future research are discussed.
Published by: American Physical Therapy Association (Website:http://www.apta.org)
