Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Language

English

Publication Date

12-11-2025

Journal

Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation

DOI

10.1186/s12984-025-01826-2

PMID

41382226

PMCID

PMC12802238

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

12-11-2025

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Abstract

Background: Stroke survivors often experience impaired upper extremity motor function due to abnormal muscle synergies. This pilot study evaluated the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of electromyography-guided human-machine interaction training designed to expand the repertoire of intermuscular coordination patterns and improve upper extremity motor function in chronic stroke survivors.

Methods: Four chronic stroke survivors with mild-to-moderate upper extremity motor impairment and three age-matched healthy controls participated in a six-week electromyography-guided training intervention. Participants practiced selectively activating one elbow flexor muscle while suppressing another (brachioradialis or biceps brachii). Throughout the course of the intervention, the effect of the training on intermuscular coordination, task performance, and motor function and impairment level of the stroke-affected upper extremity were assessed.

Results: Participants in both the control and stroke groups successfully learned to selectively activate targeted muscles, expanding their repertoire of habitual intermuscular coordination patterns. Stroke survivors demonstrated improvements in force generation, reaching ability, wrist rotation, and clinical measures of upper extremity motor function and spasticity. Participants also reported improved ease in performing daily activities.

Conclusions: This is, to our knowledge, the first study to demonstrate the feasibility of using electromyography-guided human-machine interaction training to expand the repertoire of habitual intermuscular coordination patterns and improve upper extremity motor function in chronic stroke survivors. These findings highlight the potential of electromyography-guided human-machine interaction training as a neurorehabilitation approach to address motor deficits associated with abnormal intermuscular coordination following stroke.

Keywords

Humans, Pilot Projects, Electromyography, Stroke Rehabilitation, Male, Middle Aged, Female, Muscle, Skeletal, Stroke, Aged, Upper Extremity, Adult, Stroke, Muscle synergy, Intermuscular coordination, Human–machine interface, EMG-guided exercise, Neurorehabilitation

Comments

Trial registration: The study was registered at the Clinical Research Information Service of Korea National Institute of Health (KCT0005803).

Published Open-Access

yes

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