Regional spontaneous brain activity abnormalities in ischemic stroke patients with motor dysfunction: protocol for an AES-SDM coordinate-based meta-analysis
- 1Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Tongren Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine
- 2Yuanshen Rehabilitation Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine
- 3National Research Centre for Language and Well-being, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Abstract
Introduction: Most ischemic stroke survivors experience motor deficits, yet the underlying patterns of spontaneous brain activity change remain unclear. Individual rs-fMRI studies on this population have yielded contradictory findings, likely due to small sample sizes and between-study differences in lesion profiles, stroke stage, rehabilitation history, and imaging pipelines. These inconsistencies have not been resolved by existing reviews, many of which combine ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, pool conceptually distinct rs-fMRI metrics without sufficient stratification, or focus on functional connectivity rather than local spontaneous activity. This protocol plans a coordinate-based meta-analysis restricted to ischemic stroke and local rs-fMRI metrics to address that gap.
Methods and analysis: This study will systematically identify and synthesise whole-brain rs-fMRI studies that compared ALFF, fALFF, or ReHo between adult ischemic stroke patients with motor dysfunction and healthy controls. We will search PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library up to 6 February 2026. To be included, a study must report whole-brain voxel-wise group comparisons and provide stereotactic peak coordinates in MNI or Talairach space. Studies will be excluded if they are non-original reports, case reports or case series, use task-state fMRI or ROI-only analyses, lack extractable standard-space coordinates, involve duplicate or overlapping datasets, include hemorrhagic or mixed stroke without separable ischemic-stroke data, or do not provide clearly extractable motor dysfunction-related data. Two reviewers will independently screen, extract, and assess methodological quality. Using anisotropic effect-size seed-based d mapping (AES-SDM), the quantitative synthesis will pool coordinates to detect convergent patterns of both increased and decreased regional spontaneous activity. Where data allow, we will conduct subgroup analyses, jackknife sensitivity testing, heterogeneity assessment, and meta-regression. The protocol follows the PRISMA-P statement, and the completed review will adhere to PRISMA 2020.
Conclusion: This protocol outlines a systematic review and AES-SDM coordinate-based meta-analysis aimed at synthesizing regional spontaneous activity abnormalities in ischemic stroke patients with motor dysfunction. The results should identify convergent areas of local functional alteration, generating testable predictions for future research on post-stroke motor-network reorganization and rehabilitation.
Clinical trial registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD420261359426 , identifier CRD420261359426.
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BibTeX
@article{zhao2026regional,
title = {{Regional spontaneous brain activity abnormalities in ischemic stroke patients with motor dysfunction: protocol for an AES-SDM coordinate-based meta-analysis}},
author = {Jia Zhao and Yao Rao and Jiali Wu and Ming Zeng and Jingjing Zhang and Jiawei Ni and Hui Xu and Zhiwei Zhao and Yaxin Zheng and Cong Wang and Chunlei Shan},
journal = {Frontiers in Neurology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fneur.2026.1933104},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2026.1933104/full},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Regional spontaneous brain activity abnormalities in ischemic stroke patients with motor dysfunction: protocol for an AES-SDM coordinate-based meta-analysis
AU - Jia Zhao
AU - Yao Rao
AU - Jiali Wu
AU - Ming Zeng
AU - Jingjing Zhang
AU - Jiawei Ni
AU - Hui Xu
AU - Zhiwei Zhao
AU - Yaxin Zheng
AU - Cong Wang
AU - Chunlei Shan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
JO - Frontiers in Neurology
DO - 10.3389/fneur.2026.1933104
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2026.1933104/full
AB - Introduction: Most ischemic stroke survivors experience motor deficits, yet the underlying patterns of spontaneous brain activity change remain unclear. Individual rs-fMRI studies on this population have yielded contradictory findings, likely due to small sample sizes and between-study differences in lesion profiles, stroke stage, rehabilitation history, and imaging pipelines. These inconsistencies have not been resolved by existing reviews, many of which combine ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, pool conceptually distinct rs-fMRI metrics without sufficient stratification, or focus on functional connectivity rather than local spontaneous activity. This protocol plans a coordinate-based meta-analysis restricted to ischemic stroke and local rs-fMRI metrics to address that gap. Methods and analysis: This study will systematically identify and synthesise whole-brain rs-fMRI studies that compared ALFF, fALFF, or ReHo between adult ischemic stroke patients with motor dysfunction and healthy controls. We will search PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library up to 6 February 2026. To be included, a study must report whole-brain voxel-wise group comparisons and provide stereotactic peak coordinates in MNI or Talairach space. Studies will be excluded if they are non-original reports, case reports or case series, use task-state fMRI or ROI-only analyses, lack extractable standard-space coordinates, involve duplicate or overlapping datasets, include hemorrhagic or mixed stroke without separable ischemic-stroke data, or do not provide clearly extractable motor dysfunction-related data. Two reviewers will independently screen, extract, and assess methodological quality. Using anisotropic effect-size seed-based d mapping (AES-SDM), the quantitative synthesis will pool coordinates to detect convergent patterns of both increased and decreased regional spontaneous activity. Where data allow, we will conduct subgroup analyses, jackknife sensitivity testing, heterogeneity assessment, and meta-regression. The protocol follows the PRISMA-P statement, and the completed review will adhere to PRISMA 2020. Conclusion: This protocol outlines a systematic review and AES-SDM coordinate-based meta-analysis aimed at synthesizing regional spontaneous activity abnormalities in ischemic stroke patients with motor dysfunction. The results should identify convergent areas of local functional alteration, generating testable predictions for future research on post-stroke motor-network reorganization and rehabilitation. Clinical trial registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD420261359426 , identifier CRD420261359426.
SN - 1664-2295
ER -