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Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume)
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Articles

Changes in Speed of Information Processing in the Brain Following Tendon Repair

M. W. STENEKES
C. K. VAN DER SLUIS
J. -P. A. NICOLAI
J. H. B. GEERTZEN
TH. MULDER

From the Department of Plastic Surgery, Center for Rehabilitation Medicine, Center for Human Movement Sciences and Northern Center for Healthcare Research, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands and Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Correspondence: M.W. Stenekes, MD, Department of Plastic Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, P.O. Box 30.001, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands. E-mail: stenekes{at}plastischirurg.eu.

The objective of this study was to measure the "preparation time" that is the speed of information processing in the brain, and discuss the relevance of this parameter in the restoration of hand function following flexor tendon repair. The preparation time of 48 healthy adult participants was measured twice at a 6-week interval and compared with that of 12 patients after flexor tendon repair. There was no difference between the left and right hands of the healthy participants. The correlation between repeated measurements was high, although healthy participants performed 2.6% faster 6 weeks after the first measurement. After 6 weeks of immobilisation, patients showed a significant deterioration with respect to the speed of information processing by the brain on both the injured and uninjured sides compared with healthy participants, who had improved between the first and the second measurements. The results indicate that a period of lack of normal use of the hand leads to a change in cerebral control of hand movements.

Key Words: preparation time • information processing • hand function assessment • finger flexion

This version was published on December 1, 2008

Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Vol. 33, No. 6, 760-764 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1753193408096017
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