Browsing by Author "Verschure, P. F. M. J."
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- A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of visuomotor processing in a virtual reality-based paradigm: rehabilitation gaming systemPublication . Prochnow, D.; Bermúdez i Badia, S.; Schmidt, J.; Duff, A.; Brunheim, S.; Kleiser, R.; Seitz, R. J.; Verschure, P. F. M. J.The Rehabilitation Gaming System (RGS) has been designed as a flexible, virtual-reality (VR)-based device for rehabilitation of neurological patients. Recently, training of visuomotor processing with the RGS was shown to effectively improve arm function in acute and chronic stroke patients. It is assumed that the VR-based training protocol related to RGS creates conditions that aid recovery by virtue of the human mirror neuron system. Here, we provide evidence for this assumption by identifying the brain areas involved in controlling the catching of approaching colored balls in the virtual environment of the RGS. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging of 18 right-handed healthy subjects (24 ± 3 years) in both active and imagination conditions. We observed that the imagery of target catching was related to activation of frontal, parietal, temporal, cingulate and cerebellar regions. We interpret these activations in relation to object processing, attention, mirror mechanisms, and motor intention. Active catching followed an anticipatory mode, and resulted in significantly less activity in the motor control areas. Our results provide preliminary support for the hypothesis underlying RGS that this novel neurorehabilitation approach engages human mirror mechanisms that can be employed for visuomotor training.
- New technologies and concepts for rehabilitation in the acute phase of stroke: a collaborative matrixPublication . Siekierka, E M; Eng, K.; Bassetti, C.; Blickenstorfer, A; Cameirão, M. S.; Dietz, V; Duff, A.; Erol, F; Ettlin, T; Hermann, D M; Keller, T; Keisker, B; Kesselring, J; Kleiser, R; Kollias, S; Kool, J P; Kurre, A; Mangold, S; Nef, T; Pyk, P; Riener, R; Schuster, C; Tosi, F; Verschure, P. F. M. J.; Zimmerli, LThe process of developing a successful stroke rehabilitation methodology requires four key components: a good understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this brain disease, clear neuroscientific hypotheses to guide therapy, adequate clinical assessments of its efficacy on multiple timescales, and a systematic approach to the application of modern technologies to assist in the everyday work of therapists. Achieving this goal requires collaboration between neuroscientists, technologists and clinicians to develop well-founded systems and clinical protocols that are able to provide quantitatively validated improvements in patient rehabilitation outcomes. In this article we present three new applications of complementary technologies developed in an interdisciplinary matrix for acute-phase upper limb stroke rehabilitation - functional electrical stimulation, arm robot-assisted therapy and virtual reality-based cognitive therapy. We also outline the neuroscientific basis of our approach, present our detailed clinical assessment protocol and provide preliminary results from patient testing of each of the three systems showing their viability for patient use.
- Using a hybrid brain computer interface and virtual reality system to monitor and promote cortical reorganization through motor activity and motor imagery trainingPublication . Bermúdez i Badia, S.; Garcia Morgade, A.; Samaha, H.; Verschure, P. F. M. J.Stroke is one of the leading causes of adult disability with high economical and societal costs. In recent years, novel rehabilitation paradigms have been proposed to address the life-long plasticity of the brain to regain motor function. We propose a hybrid brain-computer interface (BCI)-virtual reality (VR) system that combines a personalized motor training in a VR environment, exploiting brain mechanisms for action execution and observation, and a neuro-feedback paradigm using mental imagery as a way to engage secondary or indirect pathways to access undamaged cortico-spinal tracts. Furthermore, we present the development and validation experiments of the proposed system. More specifically, EEG data on nine naïve healthy subjects show that a simultaneous motor activity and motor imagery paradigm is more effective at engaging cortical motor areas and related networks to a larger extent. Additionally, we propose a motor imagery driven BCI-VR version of our system that was evaluated with nine different healthy subjects. Data show that users are capable of controlling a virtual avatar in a motor imagery training task that dynamically adjusts its difficulty to the capabilities of the user. User self-report questionnaires indicate enjoyment and acceptance of the proposed system.