trained their self-reported less affected upper limb

trained their self-reported most affected limb

For the robotic training sessions, a haptic wrist robot known as the Wristbot was used (ReWing, Genova, Italy). The training protocol consisted of an eccentric contraction-based exercise. Participants trained 3x per week for 4 consecutive weeks for approximately 25-mins per session.

Participants were asked to complete one trial of a maximum grip test (Baseline Evaluation Instruments). Held with a straight arm, 45° abduction by the side and hand/wrist neutral, participants were asked to squeeze the handle as hard as possible for 3 seconds and grip force (Newton) was recorded.

the participant's arm was fully extended and rested on the table, and participants were instructed to exert force at the wrist joint (F/E, RD/UD) as hard as they could against the stationary load cell that rested on the metacarpophalangeal joints (Model: BG 500, Mark-10 Corporation, New York, USA). Two maximal exertions were completed and the largest value was recorded.

Participants were positioned in the same position as the training. By moving the end-effector with their wrist, participants tracked a moving icon around a Lissajous-curve. Participants were instructed to follow the icon as closely as possible. The target icon moved at a velocity of 20 °/s and 5 total laps were completed. Tracking and figural error were calculated as measures of performance.