Errors in proprioceptive matching post-stroke are associated with impaired recruitment of parietal, supplementary motor, and temporal cortices

Deficits in proprioception, the ability to discriminate the relative position and movement of our limbs, affect ~50% of stroke patients and reduce functional outcomes. Our lack of knowledge of the anatomical correlates of proprioceptive processing limits our understanding of the impact that such deficits have on recovery. This research investigated the relationship between functional impairment in brain activity and proprioception post-stroke. We developed a novel device and task for arm position matching during functional MRI (fMRI), and investigated 16 subjects with recent stroke and nine healthy age-matched controls. The stroke-affected arm was moved by an experimenter (passive arm), and subjects were required to match the position of this limb with the opposite arm (active arm). Brain activity during passive and active arm movements was determined, as well as activity in association with performance error. Passive arm movement in healthy controls was associated with activity in contralateral primary somatosensory (SI) and motor cortices (MI), bilateral parietal cortex, supplementary (SMA) and premotor cortices, secondary somatosensory cortices (SII), and putamen. Active arm matching was associated with activity in contralateral SI, MI, bilateral SMA, premotor cortex, putamen, and ipsilateral cerebellum. In subjects with stroke, similar patterns of activity were observed. However, in stroke subjects, greater proprioceptive error was associated with less activity in ipsilesional supramarginal and superior temporal gyri, and lateral thalamus. During active arm movement, greater proprioceptive error was associated with less activity in bilateral SMA and ipsilesional premotor cortex. Our results enhance our understanding of the correlates of proprioception within the temporal parietal cortex and supplementary/premotor cortices. These findings also offer potential targets for therapeutic intervention to improve proprioception in recovering stroke patients and thus improve functional outcome.