Asymmetries in vestibular evoked myogenic potentials in chronic stroke survivors with spastic hypertonia: Evidence for a vestibulospinal role

Spastic hypertonia or “spasticity” is a frequent and often disabling sequel to hemispheric stroke (Watkins et al., 2002; Urban et al., 2010). It is a motor disorder, manifesting as a sharply lateralized muscular hypertonia on the contralesional side with exaggerated phasic and tonic stretch reflex activity (Lance, 1980). Clinically, spasticity presents as an increase in the resistance of a passive limb to externally applied joint motion and is commonly associated with deficits in both motor and functional performance (Bohannon et al., 1987; O’Dwyer et al., 1996; Watkins et al., 2002; Sommerfeld et al., 2004).

Source: Clinical Neurophysiology - March 13, 2014 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Derek M. Miller, Cliff S. Klein, Nina L. Suresh, William Z. Rymer Source Type: research