Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: JACILDA OLIVEIRA DOS PASSOS

Coherence analysis of the cortical activation of patients with cerebrovascular accident undergoing rehabilitation with virtual reality

Keywords: Stroke, motor learning, electroencephalography, virtual reality exposure therapy

ABSTRACT

Motor dysfunctions resulting from stroke, especially those involving the upper limb, compromise patients' motor learning. The aim of this study was to investigate, through coherence analysis, brain activity in areas related to motor learning in patients with chronic stroke. The sample consisted of 12 patients, of both sexes and with a mean age of 55 years, 6 with left brain injury and 6 with right brain injury, equally distributed in the experimental (EG) and control (CG) groups. The GE patients underwent rehabilitation using a virtual reality game protocol and the CG patients through conventional physical therapy. These data were analyzed by EEG uptake during the evaluation and reassessment, which were interspersed by an intervention period of 12 sessions, 3 times a week, for 45 minutes. Data were processed through coherence analysis between the frontal and parietal channels, in the Alpha and Beta frequency bands and the statistical analysis was performed by ANOVA. From the results will be observed the neural behavior after specific training and its repercussion in motor learning, through the interaction of brain areas related to this process and the modification of neural rhythms.