Assessing Balance Control After Minor Stroke: Moving from Laboratory towards Clinic

In this thesis, we determined how system identification can be integrated in the clinic to assess human balance control. Adequately balance assessment is important in order to detect people with high fall risks and to optimize balance training, which would ultimately result in better rehabilitation and thus less falls. Current clinical tests...

Assessing brain structure and function with diffusion-weighted MRI: Application to stroke

Human brain consists of grey and white matter. Grey matter largely forms the<br/>outer layer of the brain, and is responsible for decision making and functioning<br/>of the human body. Complementary, the white matter (WM) contains the<br/>communication pathways between the grey matter areas. Diffusion-weighted<br/>magnetic resonance imaging ...

Is the force with you? On the accuracy of human force perception

Haptic technology is more and more widely used to improve human interaction with devices, for example in touch screens of smartphones that vibrate when touched. Another application is haptic-tele-manipulation where a human controls a slave manipulator (e.g. a surgical-robot) by using a master device (e.g. a joystick). In haptic-tele-manipulation...

HEADS UP: Sensorimotor control of the head-neck system

Head-neck stabilization is inherently challenging even when stationary, requiring constant vigilance to counter the downward pull of gravity. It involves a highly complex biomechanical system comprised of a large mass (the head) balanced on top of seven vertebrae (the neck), that are in turn connected to a moving base (the torso). This multi...

Reflex mechanisms in CRPS-related dystonia

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is a disabling syndrome associated with sensory (e.g., burning pain, allodynia, hyperalgesia), autonomic (e.g., edema, skin color and temperature changes), and motor impairments (e.g., tremor, myoclonus, dystonia). Approximately 25% of the patients with CRPS develop fixed dystonia which is characterized by...