Interlateral asymmetries of body balance control resulting from cerebral stroke

Abstract

This review is dedicated to synthesize recent findings on interlateral asymmetries of body balance control provoked by uni-hemispheric cerebral stroke, a neural lesion more frequently associated with older individuals. I introduce this theme by exposing results on the main deficits of balance control resulting from stroke-related cerebral lesions. In the main sections, the reviewed findings suggest that reduced balance stability due to stroke results from the impaired capacity to exert muscular forces in a timely and coordinated manner with the paretic leg, associated with low compensatory action of the nonparetic leg, to prevent increased body oscillation. The discussed findings lead to the conclusion that interlateral asymmetry is magnified, with balance control being more critically impaired, when the right cerebral hemisphere is lesioned. Evidence is presented for propositions that right hemisphere specialization could be based on processing of sensory information, and for the alternative proposition that hemispheric specialization is founded on preeminence for impedance control.