![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 1, 7 – 10 Absent or weakened muscle synergies can be used to identify a patient’s muscle coordination problem. In healthy individuals, walking typically involves four muscle synergies – weight acceptance (WA), push off (PO), foot clearance (FC) and leg deceleration (LD). 1, 6 A muscle synergy represents a system of commands from the central nervous system (CNS) to several muscles that coordinate a single action. 5 Because the impaired walking patterns of stroke patients such as circumduction and steppage gait are caused by a combination of coordination problems and muscle weakness, these should be considered together in constructing an effective rehabilitation strategy.Ĭoordinated walking patterns are performed either through motor modules or muscle synergies. 4 Foot drop is associated with not only problems in terms of ankle muscle coordination but also weakness of the tibialis anterior muscle, which is noticeable relative to weaknesses in other muscles of the paretic limb. Although the terms ‘muscle weakness’ and ‘coordination’ technically describe different phenomena, they are used interchangeably in this context because most stroke patients exhibit muscle weakness and coordination problems simultaneously. 1 – 3 Generally, strokes result in muscle weakness and spasticity of the paretic limb that can lead to disruptions in interlimb coordination control. Walking impairment is a major concern for stroke patients because it significantly contributes to functional disability and can lead to disruption in their quality of life. ![]()
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