Objective:To explore cortical activation during the obstacle avoidance task in convalescent stroke patients,and examine the effect of obstacle avoidance difficulty on brain activation.Method:A total of 20 convalescent stroke patients were recruited to perform various motor tasks,including walking,simple obstacle avoidance,difficult obstacle avoidance,and motor imagery.Functional near-infrared spectroscopy(fNIRS)was used to detect the oxygenated hemoglobin concentration in the prefrontal cortex(PFC),premotor cortex(PMC)and supplementary motor area(SMA)of the patients.Additional relevant sec-ondary indicators were evaluated and collected.Statistical analysis was performed without grouping and with grouping.Result:The activation levels of bilateral PFC,PMC and SMA during the dynamic task were significantly dif-ferent from those during the static tasks(P＜0.05),with the highest activation observed in the PFC.There were significant differences between simple and difficult obstacle avoidance tasks in the unaffected-side SMA(P＜0.05).In addition,there was a linear positive correlation between the peak activation level of PMC on the unaffected side and Tinetti score(P＜0.05).Conclusion:Bilateral PFC,PMC and SMA are involved in limb movement in convalescent stroke patients,with PFC showing the highest level of activation.In addition,SMA on the unaffected side may contribute to regulating the difficulty of obstacle avoidance.Moreover,the peak activation level of PMC on the unaffected side is associated with balance and walking function.

Objective:To explore cortical activation during the obstacle avoidance task in convalescent stroke patients,and examine the effect of obstacle avoidance difficulty on brain activation.Method:A total of 20 convalescent stroke patients were recruited to perform various motor tasks,including walking,simple obstacle avoidance,difficult obstacle avoidance,and motor imagery.Functional near-infrared spectroscopy(fNIRS)was used to detect the oxygenated hemoglobin concentration in the prefrontal cortex(PFC),premotor cortex(PMC)and supplementary motor area(SMA)of the patients.Additional relevant sec-ondary indicators were evaluated and collected.Statistical analysis was performed without grouping and with grouping.Result:The activation levels of bilateral PFC,PMC and SMA during the dynamic task were significantly dif-ferent from those during the static tasks(P＜0.05),with the highest activation observed in the PFC.There were significant differences between simple and difficult obstacle avoidance tasks in the unaffected-side SMA(P＜0.05).In addition,there was a linear positive correlation between the peak activation level of PMC on the unaffected side and Tinetti score(P＜0.05).Conclusion:Bilateral PFC,PMC and SMA are involved in limb movement in convalescent stroke patients,with PFC showing the highest level of activation.In addition,SMA on the unaffected side may contribute to regulating the difficulty of obstacle avoidance.Moreover,the peak activation level of PMC on the unaffected side is associated with balance and walking function.