Patients with stroke can experience a drastic change in their body representation (BR), beyond the physical and psychological consequences of stroke itself. Noteworthy, the misperception of BR could affect patients' motor performance even more. Our study aimed at evaluating the usefulness of a robot-aided gait training (RAGT) equipped with augmented visuomotor feedback, expected to target BR (RAGT + VR) in improving lower limb sensorimotor function, gait performance (using Fugl-Meyer Assessment scale for lower extremities, FMA-LE), and BR (using the Body Esteem Scale-BES- and the Body Uneasiness Test-BUT), as compared to RAGT - VR. We also assessed the neurophysiologic basis putatively subtending the BR-based motor function recovery, using EEG recording during RAGT. Forty-five patients with stroke were enrolled in this study and randomized with a 1:2 ratio into either the RAGT + VR (n = 30) or the RAGT - VR (n = 15) group. The former group carried out rehabilitation training with the Lokomat©Pro; whereas, the latter used the Lokomat©Nanos. The rehabilitation protocol consisted of 40 one-hour training sessions. At the end of the training, the RAGT + VR improved in FMA-LE (p < 0.001) and BR (as per BES, (p < 0.001), and BUT, (p < 0.001)) more than the RAGT- did (p < 0.001). These differences in clinical outcomes were paralleled by a greater strengthening of visuomotor connectivity and corticomotor excitability (as detected at the EEG analyses) in the RAGT + VR than in the RAGT - VR (all comparisons p < 0.001), corresponding to an improved motor programming and execution in the former group.We may argue that BR recovery was important concerning functional motor improvement by its integration with the motor control system. This likely occurred through the activation of the Mirror Neuron System secondary to the visuomotor feedback provision, resembling virtual reality. Last, our data further confirm the important role of visuomotor feedback in post-stroke rehabilitation, which can achieve better patient-tailored improvement in functional gait by means of RAGT + VR targeting BR.
Keywords: Augmented visuomotor feedback; Body representation (BR); Gait rehabilitation; Mirror neuron system (MNS); Robot-aided gait training (RAGT).