## 2 Materials and Methods
### Participants  
Participants consisted of volunteers recruited through convenience sampling, with the collaboration of the Portugal AVC association for the stroke group (participants with a history of stroke) and the healthy group (participants with no history of stroke or self-reported disabilities) being recruited by direct invitation through a network of personal acquaintances. The healthy group served as a reference for typical movement performance. Seventeen Caucasian adults (4 females and 13 males) with a history of a single unilateral ischaemic stroke, impacting either the right (n = 6) or left (n = 11) hemisphere, leading to motor control impairment in the contralesional hemi-body were included in this study. Complementarily, a comparison group of sixteen Caucasian healthy participants (four females and twelve males), were recruited. The demographic characteristics of both groups are depicted in Table 1.  
The recruitment of participants for the healthy group was performed following a sample match regarding the stroke group in terms of age, gender, body mass index (BMI), and levels of physical activity. Exclusion criteria included not being born at term (i.e., before 37 weeks of gestation), due to the potential impact on postural control [47]; an altered mental state that interfered with communication and cooperation (Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score \(<\) 24) [48; 49]; the presence of pain or any orthopedic, neurological (e.g., stroke, Parkinson's disease, sensory disturbances, etc. ), or systemic conditions that could impair task performance; surgery within the past six months; the \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c} \hline \hline  & **Stroke Group (n = 17)** &
\begin{tabular}{c} **Healthy Group** \\ **(n = 16)** \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline Age (years) & 56.76 (12.219) & 56.00 (12.247) \\ \hline Weight (Kg) & 78.32 (11.802) & 79.48 (11.264) \\ \hline Body Mass (m) & 1.71 (0.084) & 1.72 (0.085) \\ \hline BMI M (kg/m\({}^{2}\)) & 26.60 (3.229) & 26.90 (2.673) \\ \hline Post-stroke time (years); M(SD) & 5.14 (4.125) & NA \\ \hline Stroke Location; (n; \%) & & \\ Undetermined & 8 (47.01) & NA \\ Lenticulocapsular & 6 (35.29) & NA \\ Corona-radiata & 1 (5.9) & NA \\ Frontotemporal & 2 (11.8) & NA \\ \hline Risk Factors; (n; \%) & & \\ None & 6 (35.3) & NA \\ Diabetes & 3 (17.6) & NA \\ Hypertension & 2 (11.8) & NA \\ Clinical Obesity & 4 (23.5) & NA \\ Smoking & 4 (23.5) & NA \\ Alcohol Consumption & 2 (11.8) & NA \\ Hyperlipidemia & 3 (17.6) & NA \\ \hline Ability to walk independently at stroke onset & 8 (47.06) & NA \\ \hline Thromolysis/reperfusion therapy & 7 (41.18) & NA \\ \hline Mini-BESTest M(SD) & 15.71 (2.932) & NA \\ \hline TUG; M(SD) & 14.90 (3.635) & NA \\ \hline FMA-LE; M(SD) & 18.29 (2.616) & NA \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Participants sociodemographic and clinical characteristics expressed as mean (standard deviation). M: mean; SD: standard deviation; NIH8S: National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale; Mini-BESTest: Balance Evaluation Systems Test; TUG: Timed Up and Go; FMA-LE: Fugl–Meyer assessment of sensorimotor recovery after stroke—lower extremity; NA: not applicable.  
\end{table} 
Table 1: Participants’ characteristics ( sociodemographic and clinical). presence of implants or prostheses; uncontrolled cardiac conditions, thrombophlebitis, and the use of medication that affects motor function [50; 51]; or participating in moderate (i.e., vigorous activity of at least 20 min per day) to high-intensity physical activity (i.e., vigorous intensity accumulating at least 1500 MET-minutes/week) at least 3 days of the week [52]. Participants were included in the \"stroke group\" if they met the following criteria: a diagnosis of first-ever ischemic stroke in the chronic phase [50; 53], affecting the middle cerebral artery territory, as confirmed by Computerized Axial Tomography [50].