Gradually Increased Training Intensity Benefits Rehabilitation Outcome after Stroke by BDNF Upregulation and Stress Suppression

Table 1

An Overview of Rehabilitation Outcomes of Motor Function, BDNF Levels in Hippocampus, Striatum and Cortex, and Plasma Corticosterone (CORT).

Items	Group	Pre-training	Post-training	Post hoc (𝑃)
Motor Function				CG vs LG (0.018*)
	CG	5.36±1.41	8.23±1.69	CG vs GIG (<0.001*)
	LG	4.89±0.78	10.01±0.73	CG vs HG (0.041*)
	GIG	5.37±1.64	12.00±1.00	LG vs GIG (0.009*)
	HG	5.50±0.81	9.64±0.90	LG vs HG (1.00)
				GIG vs HG (<0.001*)
BDNF level in hippocampus				CG vs LG (0.044*)
	CG	—	47.68±13.25	CG vs GIG (<0.001*)
	LG	—	74.46±25.57	CG vs HG (0.032*)
	GIG	—	112.87±25.18	LG vs GIG (<0.001*)
	HG	—	76.41±34.68	LG vs HG (0.523)
				GIG vs HG (0.001*)
BDNF level in striatum				CG vs LG (1.00)
	CG	—	14.16±13.25	CG vs GIG (0.004*)
	LG	—	18.04±11.61	CG vs HG (1.00)
	GIG	—	27.77±15.57	LG vs GIG (0.044*)
	HG	—	17.94±10.26	LG vs HG (1.00)
				GIG vs HG (0.030*)
BDNF level in cortex				CG vs LG (0.980)
	CG	—	11.73±7.18	CG vs GIG (0.001*)
	LG	—	14.69±3.60	CG vs HG (1.00)
	GIG	—	19.24±4.94	LG vs GIG (0.203)
	HG	—	14.64±6.50	LG vs HG (1.00)
				GIG vs HG (0.194)
Plasma CORT Level				CG vs LG (0.044*)
	CG	—	347.03±181.02	CG vs GIG (0.009*)
	LG	—	508.07±161.30	CG vs HG (<0.001*)
	GIG	—	540.63±117.40	LG vs GIG (1.000)
	HG	—	716.90±156.48	LG vs HG (0.003*)
				GIG vs HG (0.017*)

Values: means ± standard deviations; 𝑃 value: significance level of 2-way Repeated Measures ANOVA multiple comparisons with covariate for behavioral scores; significance level of one-way ANOVA for BDNF levels and plasma CORT concentrations.
∗Significant differences observed; post hoc test was conducted to specify the differences between groups.