Motor Learning after Stroke

Moore, Robert Taylor

Motor Learning after Stroke

dc.contributor.advisor	Cluff, Tyler
dc.contributor.advisor	Dukelow, Sean
dc.contributor.author	Moore, Robert Taylor
dc.contributor.committeemember	Kirton, Adam
dc.contributor.committeemember	Hill, Michael
dc.date	2023-06
dc.date.accessioned	2023-05-16T20:08:28Z
dc.date.available	2023-05-16T20:08:28Z
dc.date.issued	2023-05-10
dc.description.abstract	Motor learning is a pillar of stroke rehabilitation. Indeed, many therapeutic protocols and interventions are based on principles of motor learning. One of the assumptions made in rehabilitation is that motor learning remains intact after stroke and can be leveraged to facilitate recovery. However, a growing body of evidence has shown that motor learning can be impaired after stroke. Our understanding of how stroke influences the neural and behavioural processes that support motor learning is incomplete. This raises questions about how well our current understanding of motor learning, derived predominantly from studies in healthy adults, applies to stroke rehabilitation. The following dissertation describes four studies that examine reaching movements and a specific type of motor learning known as motor adaptation. This type of learning encompasses the processes that help to maintain accurate movements amidst changes in the body, environment, and task demands. Across three experiments in healthy adults (Chapter Two) and three experiments in participants with stroke (Chapters Three, Four, and Five), we characterized motor adaptation in health and disease. Overall, the works in this dissertation demonstrate the utility of robotics for quantifying motor adaptation. Impaired adaptation after stroke was associated with several clinical variables including: the side of the stroke affected limb (i.e., dominant versus non-dominant), time post-stroke, movement performance, proprioceptive abilities, and clinical assessments of motor impairment and functional independence. Notably these variables accounted for only a small portion of the variance in motor adaptation after stroke, suggesting that other clinical variables (e.g., lesion characteristics or other types of impairments) may be associated with adaptation after stroke. Our results reveal widespread impairments in visuomotor adaptation after stroke and generate numerous questions about the basic mechanisms underlying motor adaptation and how adaptation applies to stroke rehabilitation.
dc.identifier.citation	Moore, R. T. (2023). Motor learning after stroke (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada).
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1880/116538
dc.identifier.uri	https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/dspace/41381
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Graduate Studies
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	Stroke
dc.subject	Rehabilitation
dc.subject	Motor Learning
dc.subject	Motor Adaptation
dc.subject	Motor Impairment
dc.subject	Proprioception
dc.subject.classification	Neuroscience
dc.subject.classification	Psychology--Behavioral
dc.subject.classification	Rehabilitation and Therapy
dc.subject.classification	Robotics
dc.title	Motor Learning after Stroke
dc.type	doctoral thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Medicine – Neuroscience
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I require a thesis withhold – I need to delay the release of my thesis due to a patent application, and other reasons outlined in the link above. I have/will need to submit a thesis withhold application.