Large-Scale Phase Synchrony Reflects Clinical Status After Stroke: An EEG Study:

Background and Purpose. Stroke-induced focal brain lesions often exert remote effects via residual neural network activity. Electroencephalographic (EEG) techniques can assess neural network modifications after brain damage. Recently, EEG phase synchrony analyses have shown associations between the level of large-scale phase synchrony of brain activity and clinical symptoms; however, few reports have assessed such associations in stroke patients. Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical relevance of hemispheric phase synchrony in stroke patients by calculating its correlation with clinical status. Methods. This cross-sectional study included 19 patients with post-acute ischemic stroke admitted for inpatient rehabilitation. Interhemispheric phase synchrony indices (IH-PSIs) were computed in 2 frequency bands (alpha [α], and beta [β]), and associations between indices and scores of the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), and ...