BCI-assisted training for upper limb motor rehabilitation: estimation of effects on individual brain connectivity and motor functions

The aim of the study is to quantify individual changes in scalp connectivity patterns associated to the affected hand movement in stroke patients after a 1-month training based on BCIsupported motor imagery to improve upper limb motor recovery. To perform the statistical evaluation between pre- and post-training conditions at the single subject level, a resampling approach was applied to EEG datasets acquired from 12 stroke patients during the execution of a motor task with the stroke affected hand before and after the rehabilitative intervention. Significant patterns of the network reinforced after the training were extracted and a significant correlation was found between indices related to the reinforced pattern and the clinical outcome indicated by clinical scales.