The relationship of temporal gait asymmetry and rhythm perception and production

每年有5万加拿大人中风。大多数人即使在中风康复后仍有行走困难。一大专业 问题是改变了常规的步行模式。正常、健康的走路是 对称，这意味着每条腿与地面接触的时间相等。中风后，一个人走起路来 更强壮的腿比更弱的腿花更多的时间。这可能导致长期的 平衡不良、强腿疼痛、弱腿骨质流失等问题。治疗师花了很多时间 然而，治疗不对称并没有太大的改善。因此，我们需要新的康复计划， 解决不对称行走的问题。但要做到这一点，首先需要确定不对称的原因。一些因素，如 肌肉无力已经被发现，但并不能完全解释为什么每个中风患者走路都不对称。 一些研究表明，一种名为基底节的特殊大脑结构可能与运动和我们的能力有关 识别并产生节奏。我们认为，一些中风患者可能已经失去了辨认能力 有规律的节拍，这使他们无法以有规律、有节奏的方式行走。拟议的研究将研究 识别有规律节拍的能力与对称行走能力和自我评估能力之间的关系 中风患者行走的对称性。首先，我们将比较识别节拍和自我评估步行的能力 中风患者之间的对称和不对称行走。第二，我们将使用脑成像来研究大脑 中风患者在测试他们识别规则节拍的能力时的活动。最后，我们将分享这一信息 与与中风患者合作的物理治疗师讨论针对不对称步行治疗的新想法，这可能是 调查过了。

Each year 50 000 Canadians have a stroke. The majority have difficulty walking even after stroke rehabilitation. One major problem is changes to the regular walking pattern. Normal, healthy walking is symmetrical which means that each leg contacts the ground for equal amounts of time. After a stroke, a person walks with more time on the stronger leg than the weaker leg. This can cause long-term problems such as poor balance, pain in the stronger leg and bone loss in the weaker leg. Therapists spend a lot of time treating asymmetry however it does not improve very much. Therefore we need new rehabilitation programs that better address asymmetrical walking. But to do this, the causes of the asymmetry need to be identified first. Some factors such as muscle weakness have already been identified, but do not fully explain why everyone with a stroke walks asymmetrically. Some research suggests that a specific brain structure called the basal ganglia may related to both movement and our ability to recognize and produce a rhythm. We think some people who have suffered a stroke may have lost the ability to recognize a regular beat and this prevents them from walking in a regular, rhythmical way. The proposed study will examine the relationship between the ability to recognize a regular beat and the ability to walk symmetrically and self-evaluate the symmetry of walking in people with stroke. First, we will compare the ability to recognize a beat and self-evaluate walking between people with stroke who walk symmetrically and asymmetrically. Second, we will use brain imaging to study brain activity in people with stroke during a test of their ability to recognize a regular beat. Finally, we will share this information with physiotherapists who work with stroke patients to discuss ideas for new walking treatments for asymmetry that could be investigated.