“The disconnectome”: Towards a network-based understanding of sensorimotor impairment after stroke

Here, we investigate the association of sensorimotor impairments with structural damage induced by a stroke beyond the lesion itself.

We combine fine-grained kinematic assessments of proprioceptive and motor function of the paretic arm using a robotic device in an augmented reality environment (Kinarm robotic device) and maps of structural disconnection induced by the individual stroke lesion.

To this end we use an approach that enables patient-specific voxel-wise WM disconnection maps were generated using the Tractography Lesion Assessment Standard (TractLAS), which quantifies disconnection relative to a healthy WM connectome.

We provide evidence that post-stroke proprioceptive impairments in chronic stroke arise from network-wide WM disconnection in several key tracts that mediate proprioceptive function (Kaeja et al., accepted).

 

This projects is a collaboration with Mika Kaeja and Christopher Steele from Montréal in Canada.