Stroke review found fewer walking coordination patterns in the weaker leg
Muscle coordination differed in both legs after stroke, and fewer patterns were associated with poorer leg motor function.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
The weaker leg had fewer muscle synergies during walking than the other leg and healthy controls. The non-paretic leg also showed fewer synergies than healthy controls. Synergy counts were associated with leg motor function, but these comparisons do not establish that increasing the number of synergies would improve walking.
The abstract omits confidence intervals, detailed participant characteristics and the designs of the included studies. This limits assessment of the pooled comparisons' precision and applicability.
What researchers found
Number of muscle synergies during walking
The difference was -0.73 standard deviations, indicating fewer patterns in the weaker versus non-paretic leg, not a raw count difference. Assessment timing was unreported; the p-value concerns statistical evidence, not effect magnitude.
What synergies describe
Muscle synergies describe patterns of muscles working together during movement. Researchers extracted these patterns from walking measurements and compared their number with clinical measures of leg motor function.
Recovery phases
Fewer patterns were more common in the sub-acute phase than the chronic phase. Comparing recovery phases does not show how an individual's coordination changes over time or whether changing it improves function.
The original publication
Impaired motor control during post-stroke walking: A systematic review and meta-analysis of muscle synergies across different phases of recovery.
Defour A, Dominici N, Swinnen E et al.
Gait Posture · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 40992954
- Record checked
AI-assisted research and writing. This explains one selected publication; it is not a complete review of everything known. Our approach.
One more question, understood.
Keep track of the research you’ve explored.