A total of 40 participants will be enrolled in this study. During the intervention sessions, Participants will receive three combinations of the brain, hand, and nerve stimulations.~Each participant will complete three intervention sessions for the short-term effect of the intervention. The time between sessions is 3-7 days. After data collection is completed for the short-term effect part of the study, 5 out of 40 participants will be randomly chosen to enroll in the long-term effect part of the intervention. Those participants will take part in 18 intervention sessions. The sessions will be administered three times a week for six weeks.~In the short-term effect part of the study, participants will complete the following three sessions:~Repeated brain, hand, and nerve stimulations while practicing a task. In this session, participants will receive 120 pairs of brain, hand, and nerve stimulation while repeatedly grasp and release a ball with the weak hand. The hand stimulation will help participants to release the ball.~Repeated brain and nerve stimulations during rest. In this session, participants will receive 120 pairs of brain and nerve stimulation while the weak hand is resting (or not performing a task).~Hand stimulation while practicing a task. In this session, participants will practice grasping and releasing the task 120 times with hand stimulation. The hand stimulation will help participants to release the ball.~In the long-term effect part of the study, participants will complete the following session (3/week for 6 weeks):~During the intervention, participants will receive repeated brain, hand, and nerve stimulations while practicing a task. They will receive 120 pairs of brain, hand, and nerve stimulation while repeatedly grasp and release a ball with the weak hand. The hand stimulation will help participants to release the ball. We will give rest breaks during the practice of the task.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh are conducting a research study to see how combining brain, nerve, and hand stimulation affect hand movement after stroke. The primary purpose of this study is to examine changes in the connection between the brain and the weak hand muscles after the combined brain, nerve, and hand stimulation. The primary hypothesis is that the combined brain, nerve, and hand stimulation will increase the the connection between the brain and the weak hand muscles. The secondary purpose of this study is to examine changes in weak hand's movement and function after the combined brain, nerve, and hand stimulation. The secondary hypothesis is that the combined brain, nerve, and hand stimulation will increase weak hand movement and function.