Enhancing touch sensibility with sensory electrical stimulation and sensory retraining

A large proportion of stroke survivors suffer from sensory loss, negatively impacting their independence, quality of life, and neurorehabilitation prognosis. Despite the high prevalence of somatosensory impairments, our understanding of somatosensory interventions such as sensory electrical stimulation (SES) in neurorehabilitation is limited....

“Tricking the Brain” Using Immersive Virtual Reality: Modifying the Self-Perception Over Embodied Avatar Influences Motor Cortical Excitability and Action Initiation

To offer engaging neurorehabilitation training to neurologic patients, motor tasks are often visualized in virtual reality (VR). Recently introduced head-mounted displays (HMDs) allow to realistically mimic the body of the user from a first-person perspective (i.e., avatar) in a highly immersive VR environment. In this immersive environment,...

Hiding Assistive Robots During Training in Immersive VR Does Not Affect Users’ Motivation, Presence, Embodiment, Performance, Nor Visual Attention

Combining immersive virtual reality (VR) using head-mounted displays (HMDs) with assisting robotic devices might be a promising procedure to enhance neurorehabilitation. However, it is still an open question how immersive virtual environments (VE) should be designed when interacting with rehabilitation robots. In conventional training, the...

Resting-State Functional Networks Correlate with Motor Performance in a Complex Visuomotor Task: An EEG Microstate Pilot Study on Healthy Individuals

Developing motor and cognitive skills is needed to achieve expert (motor) performance or functional recovery from a neurological condition, e.g., after stroke. While extensive practice plays an essential role in the acquisition of good motor performance, it is still unknown whether certain person-specific traits may predetermine the rate of...

Naturalistic visualization of reaching movements using head-mounted displays improves movement quality compared to conventional computer screens and proves high usability

Background: The relearning of movements after brain injury can be optimized by providing intensive, meaningful, and motivating training using virtual reality (VR). However, most current solutions use two-dimensional (2D) screens, where patients interact via symbolic representations of their limbs (e.g., a cursor). These 2D screens lack depth...

Towards functional robotic training: motor learning of dynamic tasks is enhanced by haptic rendering but hampered by arm weight support

BACKGROUND: Current robot-aided training allows for high-intensity training but might hamper the transfer of learned skills to real daily tasks. Many of these tasks, e.g., carrying a cup of coffee, require manipulating objects with complex dynamics. Thus, the absence of somatosensory information regarding the interaction with virtual objects...

Explicitness of Task Instructions Supports Motor Learning and Modulates Engagement of Attentional Brain Networks

Motor learning is a complex cognitive and motor process underlying neurorehabilitation. Cognitive (e.g., attentional) engagement is important for motor learning, especially early in the learning process. In this study, we investigated if task instructions enforcing the underlying task rule of a virtual sailing task modulate attentional...

Providing Task Instructions During Motor Training Enhances Performance and Modulates Attentional Brain Networks

Learning a new motor task is a complex cognitive and motor process. Especially early during motor learning, cognitive functions such as attentional engagement, are essential, e.g., to discover relevant visual stimuli. Drawing participant’s attention towards task-relevant stimuli—e.g., with task instructions using visual cues or explicit...

Congruency of Information Rather Than Body Ownership Enhances Motor Performance in Highly Embodied Virtual Reality

In immersive virtual reality, the own body is often visually represented by an avatar. This may induce a feeling of body ownership over the virtual limbs. Importantly, body ownership and the motor system share neural correlates. Yet, evidence on the functionality of this neuroanatomical coupling is still inconclusive. Findings from previous...

Promoting Motor Variability During Robotic Assistance Enhances Motor Learning of Dynamic Tasks

Despite recent advances in robot-assisted training, the benefits of haptic guidance on motor (re)learning are still limited. While haptic guidance may increase task performance during training, it may also decrease participants' effort and interfere with the perception of the environment dynamics, hindering somatosensory information crucial...