Validity and Reliability of Sensorimotor Processing Paradigm

Kinarm: Passive and active discrimination task

Sensorimotor function of the upper limb is often impaired after stroke, even in the chronic
 phase (minimum 6 months after stroke). Currently, an optimal assessment for sensory
 processing, one of the most important sensory functions, does not exists. However, our
 research team has developed a novel assessment paradigm using the KINARM End-Point robot to
 assess the level of sensory processing of the upper limb. Within a previous study, the
 investigators examined the validity within 20 chronic stroke patients and 80 age-matched
 healthy controls by comparing the novel robotic assessment with a set of existing clinical
 and robotic assessments for the upper limb. The investigators hypothesize that the stroke
 patients will show a poorer performance on this novel assessment compared to the healthy
 controls, that the novel assessment will show better correlation coefficients with other
 sensory tests compared to motor tests, that the novel assessment can differentiate between
 different motor subgroups of chronic stroke patients, and that the novel assessment shows
 good test-retest reliability.