Robotic-assisted Therapy With Bilateral Practice Improves Task and Motor Performance of the Upper Extremity for Chronic Stroke Patients

Inclusion Criteria: * chronic stroke patients with unilateral cerebral infarction or hemorrhage and whose disease duration was more than six months following stroke * no evidence of any other cerebral pathology in study screening CT scan * a score for the Fugl-Meyer upper extremity motor assessment ranging from 23-53 corresponding to poor to notable arm-hand capacity * pre stroke ability to speak the Chinese * without any other possible somatic sensory impairment, no major cognitive-perceptual deficit based on the results of selective neuropsychological tests, such as the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and Lowenstein occupational therapy cognitive assessment (LOTCA) * premorbid right-handedness Exclusion Criteria: * less than six months following stroke * CT shows multiple cerebral infarction or hemorrhage * whose comprehension skills were insufficient to understand instructions * individuals whose score of MMSE was lower than 24 or sub-item scores of visual perception, spatial perception, praxis, and visuomotor organization in LOTCA was lower than 8, 6, 6, and 14, respectively * premorbid left-handedness