Effects of the multisensory rehabilitation product for home-based hand training after stroke on cortical activation by using NIRS methods

Abstract Objective This study aimed to assess the effects of the multisensory rehabilitation product for stroke patients on cortical activation response through near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Methods The music rehabilitation glove (MRG), multisensory rehabilitation product, was developed with a user-centered design concept. The 40-channel NIRS system monitored the cortical activation changes in the motor cortex (MC), prefrontal cortex (PFC), temporal lobe (TL) and occipital lobe (OL) of 22 young subjects during "sequential finger-to-thumb opposition movements (SFTOM)" phase of traditional training and "musical finger-to-thumb opposition movements (MFTOM)" phase of MRG training. Results The two phases of training showed significant activation (P Conclusions According to these results, MFTOM-induced cortical activation in the MC, PFC and TL with visual, auditory and tactile stimuli was stronger than SFTOM, providing evidence that the multisensory stimulation is more beneficial to cortical activation and cognitive control to promote neurological recovery.