Motor Task Performance Under Visual and Auditory Feedback Post Stroke: a Randomized Crossover Trial

Inclusion criteria

• clinical symptoms and signs and CT or MRI findings compatible with a lesion in the territory of the medial cerebral artery;
• persistent motor deficit on the upper limb but not plegia with a score between 0 and 2 on item 5b of the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS)
• more than 2 weeks after stroke onset;
• the ability to sit comfortably for more than 10 minutes and perform two-step commands

Exclusion criteria

• no detectable motor deficits at baseline assessment;
• severe aphasia;
• clinical dementia or mini mental state examination (MMSE) below cutoff;
• other cognitive or psychiatric comorbidity that impaired communication or compliance with the tasks;
• severe respiratory or cardiac condition incompatible with more than 5 minutes of continuous mild exercise in a sitting position;
• pain or deformity that limited upper limb movement on the affected side.