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[Apparelyzed]

Neural research links legs, arms
Discovery could fine-tune rehab for stroke victims

Nicholas Read
Vancouver Sun

Monday, February 19, 2007

It turns out that just as in four-legged animals such as cats and dogs, there is a clear neural connection between the arms and legs of human beings, and that could have implications for the way stroke victims are rehabilitated, according to new research done at the University of Victoria.

Currently, said Dr. Paul Zehr, an associate professor of kinesiology and neuroscience, rehabilitation work with people who are no longer able to walk because of a stroke or a spinal cord injury usually involves exercising their legs using such devices as a treadmill or a set of parallel bars.

Almost no attention is paid to the person's arms.

But if Zehr is right, that approach could be wrong -- or at least limiting.

The reason is that according to his research, there is a strong neural connection -- having to do with nerves or the nervous system -- between our arms and legs, and when we use our arms in a rhythmic way, that movement appears to affect the way we use our legs as well.

"Think of a cat," said Zehr, whose research is documented in the latest issue of the Journal of Neurophysiology. "The cat is set up so that its forelimbs and its hind limbs help each other.

"It turns out it's the same in humans. When you start moving your arms, you're setting in motion neural pathways that will help your legs."

Which means, he adds, that exercising a stroke victim's arms and legs may help him or her recover the use of his or her legs faster than by exercising the legs alone.

"We're suggesting that the use of arms should be considered in the rehabilitation of walking," said Zehr. "Exercises such as arm-cycling can both mechanically and neurologically help the legs so that you're giving your legs a hand."

He and his associate, graduate student Jackie Balter, made their discovery by studying the reflexes of 12 healthy people riding a stationary bicycle that could be cranked by the legs, the arms or both.

What they found was that when the arms and legs worked together, certain neural impulses were set up between the arms and legs that helped the legs function better.

And if that happens in healthy people, says Zehr, it may happen in disabled people as well.

He has now begun to study post-stroke and spinal-cord injury victims to see if a similar connection exists in them, or if it is broken when the stroke or injury occurs. He expects to have an answer within the next six to eight months.

If he's right and the connection still exists, it could affect the way therapy is given to people who are trying to relearn how to walk.

Says Zehr: "I think it'll have a big impact around our approach to rehabilitation and our understanding of how we're related to other animals."

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