A Method for Assessing Recovery of Fine Motor Function of the Hand in a Rhesus Monkey Model of Cortical Injury: An Adaptation of the Fugl-Meyer Scale and Eshkol-Wachman Movement Notation

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Monica A. Pessina, Boston University; Bethany G. E. Bowley, Boston University; Douglas Rosene, Emory University; Tara L. Moore, Boston University
• Language: English
• Date: 2019-03-01
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08990220.2019.1594751
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: SOMATOSENSORY AND MOTOR RESEARCH
• Volume: 36
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: 69
• End Page: 77
• Grant/Funding Information: This study was supported by National Institute of Health R21AG028680 and R21NS081261–01 and a contract from Advanced Technologies and Regenerative Medicine (ATRM), LLC. RR# 101115-PR.
• Keywords: motor function; recovery; rhesus monkey; grasp function
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery

Abstract

Motor dysfunction of the upper extremity can result from stroke, cortical injury and neurological diseases and causes significant disruption of activities of daily living. While some spontaneous recovery in terms of compensatory movements does occur after injury to cortical motor areas, full recovery is rare. The distinction between complete recovery and compensatory recovery is important as the development of compensatory movements in the upper extremity may not translate into full functional use in human patients. However, current animal models of stroke do not distinguish full recovery from compensatory recovery. We have developed a Non-Human Primate Grasp Assessment Scale (GRAS) to quantify the precise recovery of composite movement, individual digit action, and finger-thumb pinch in our rhesus monkey model of cortical injury. To date, we have applied this GRAS scale to assess the recovery of fine motor function of the hand in young control and cell-therapy treated monkeys with cortical injury confined to the hand representation in the dominant primary motor cortex. We have demonstrated that with this scale we can detect and quantify significant impairments in fine motor function of the hand, the development of compensatory function during recovery and finally a return to full fine motor function of the hand in monkeys treated with a cell therapy.