500 Section - Differential Cortical Responses to Robotic Hand Proprioceptive Stimulation in Stroke and Healthy Adults

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

6:00 PM - 7:30 PM PT

Co-Author(s)

JX

Junwen Xia, MS

Physical Therapist
Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Wuhan, Hubei, China (People's Republic)
NX

Nan Xia, PhD

Senior Physical Therapist
Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Wuhan, Hubei, China (People's Republic)
ZC

Zejian Chen, PhD

Physical Therapist
Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Wuhan, Hubei, China (People's Republic)

Presenting Author/Autor expositor(s)

YC

Yong Chen, MPH

Director of Rehabilitation Therapy Center
Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Wuhan, Hubei, China (People's Republic)

Objectives : Hand proprioceptive input plays a crucial role in sensorimotor integration and motor control. How robotic hand proprioceptive stimulation modulates cortical activation in healthy adults and stroke patients remains unclear. This study investigated cortical responses induced by distinct proprioceptive input modes from a soft pneumatic robotic glove using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).

Design: Twenty-four healthy right-handed adults (31.1 ± 12.0 years) and twenty-five subacute stroke patients (49.7 ± 11.0 years) participated. The glove delivered two passive proprioceptive input modes: Mode 1—low-frequency, large-amplitude stimulation (0.5 Hz); and Mode 2—high-frequency, small-amplitude finger flexion–extension (5 Hz). fNIRS data were recorded during rest and both modes. Cortical activation was analyzed across the primary somatosensory cortex (PSC), primary motor cortex (PMC), premotor/supplementary motor cortex (PreM/SMC), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC).

Results: During Mode 1, healthy participants showed significant activation in the right PSC, PMC, and PreM/SMC (p < 0.05), whereas stroke patients exhibited activation mainly in the right PSC (p < 0.05). During Mode 2, healthy adults displayed significant activation in the PreM/SMC and left PMC (p < 0.05), while stroke patients demonstrated bilateral PreM/SMC and increased left DLPFC activation (p < 0.05). Distinct proprioceptive input modes elicited differential cortical activation patterns between groups.

Conclusion: Different robotic hand proprioceptive input modes distinctly modulate cortical activation. Low-frequency, large-amplitude stimulation preferentially engages somatosensory-related cortices, whereas high-frequency, small-amplitude movements recruit motor preparatory and higher-order cognitive regions, particularly in stroke patients. These findings provide neurophysiological evidence for optimizing robotic rehabilitation strategies and developing individualized proprioception-based interventions for post-stroke hand recovery.