NCTraCS Funding Fuels Research

In North Carolina the age-adjusted stroke rate is 57.4 per 100,000 with North Carolina considered the buckle on the stroke belt. Problems walking after stroke are very common and often include foot drop, a common manifestation of stroke where the Tibialis Anterior (TA) muscle becomes weak or its antagonist muscles (e.g., Soleus) become hyperactive.

The mechanisms underlying foot drop vary but it consistently causes stroke victims to use compensatory walking behavior if left untreated. One of the most common treatments is the use of light weight braces that do not encourage the use of TA during walking and will not produce increased strength over time in TA. Segal and Walker are gathering preliminary data on the feasibility of using operant conditioning of TA H-reflexes to make them larger (up-train) in patients post-stroke with foot drop.