TOPIC

Neurological research

Everything we have read on neurological. Each paper is summarised from the full article rather than its abstract, so the limitations are in there too, and the funding wherever the paper declares it.

2,792 PAPERS · PAGE 33 OF 56 · NEWEST FIRST

• PTOTSystematic Review2023Structural and pathophysiological muscle changes up to one year after post-stroke hemiplegia: a systematic review.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineMuscle loss and electrical changes start within hours of stroke on the affected side, but also occur on the unaffected side. Early rehab should target both limbs to prevent atrophy and maintain strength.
• OTPilot2023Understanding the Barriers of Implementing a Self-Awareness Assessment in Occupational Therapy Practice within a Brain Injury Population: An Exploratory Study.Occupational therapy internationalA one-hour training session significantly improved occupational therapists' knowledge and confidence in using self-awareness assessments, with gains lasting three months. However, actual use of these formal tools remained rare, with only two of fourteen therapists reporting increased use.
• PTOTSLPQualitative2023Feasibility and Acceptability of a Codesigned Health Care Transition Intervention for Young People With Spinal Cord Injuries.Topics in spinal cord injury rehabilitationYoung people with spinal cord injury and clinicians found a new transition website easy to use and helpful for preparing for adult care. They said it works best when a therapist introduces it in clinic, rather than expecting families to find it alone.
• OTCase Report2024Comparison of brain activation and functional outcomes between physical and virtual reality box and block test: a case study.Disability and rehabilitation. Assistive technologyIn one person with chronic stroke, no difference was found between a VR box-and-block test and the real test for blocks moved or brain activity. This is one case, not proof VR works.
• PTOTSLPPilot2023Feasibility of performing a multi-arm clinical trial examining the novel combination of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and aerobic exercise for post-stroke depression.Topics in stroke rehabilitationCombining brain stimulation and treadmill walking is feasible for post-stroke depression, with high adherence and mild side effects. Preliminary data suggest both interventions reduce symptoms, but the study is too small to prove which treatment works or if the combination is superior to either alone.
• PTOTQualitative2023Developing a community-engaged wheelchair exercise program for persons with MS: community advisory board formation and feedback.Disability and rehabilitation. Assistive technologyWheelchair users with MS advised that exercise programs must offer flexible aerobic bouts, alternative resistance options like wrist weights, and clear guidance on handling setbacks. They emphasized independence in equipment setup and requested coaching by clinicians or peers to support adherence.
• PTOTOther2023Engaging in a home-based exercise program: a mixed-methods approach to identify motivators and barriers for individuals with stroke.Assistive technology : the official journal of RESNAStroke survivors engaged with a home exercise app but rarely met the recommended dose. They were motivated by activities that felt useful and by seeing their own progress. Caregiver availability and daily schedules were the main barriers. Tailoring the program to the person and their support network is essential.
• PTOTCohort2023Enhanced Street Crossing Features are Associated with Higher Post-Stroke Physical Quality of Life.Topics in stroke rehabilitationLiving near street crossings with better features (like curb cuts) was associated with higher physical quality of life after stroke. Sidewalk quality and nearby destinations showed no such link. This suggests accessible crossings are a specific environmental target for post-stroke recovery.
• PTOTOther2023Corpus Callosal Microstructure Predicts Bimanual Motor Performance in Chronic Stroke Survivors: a Preliminary Cross-Sectional Study.Topics in stroke rehabilitationIn chronic stroke survivors, poorer corpus callosum fiber organization was linked to slower bimanual task performance among those who used both hands, not among those who used one hand.
• PTOTSLPCohort2022A Network Analysis of the PART-O at 1 and 2 Years After TBI: A Veterans Affairs Model Systems Study.The Journal of head trauma rehabilitationSocial relationships and internet use were the most central parts of participation for veterans with TBI. Seeing friends and providing emotional support became more strongly linked over time, suggesting these social interactions deepened during recovery.
• PTOTSystematic Review2024A systematic review and cross-sectional survey of rehabilitation resources for injury patients in the Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania.Disability and rehabilitationEight rehabilitation organizations were identified in Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro region. Most require out-of-pocket payment, which limits access for patients without insurance. Awareness of these services is low among both patients and referring doctors.
• PTOTQualitative2024Requirements for home-based upper extremity rehabilitation using wearable motion sensors for stroke patients: a user-centred approach.Disability and rehabilitation. Assistive technologyFor sub-acute stroke home rehab, patients and therapists prioritised real-time feedback, personalised goals, weekly therapist contact, and easy independent use.
• PTOTSLPCohort2023Differences in Risk of Alzheimer's Disease Following Later-Life Traumatic Brain Injury in Veteran and Civilian Populations.The Journal of head trauma rehabilitationTraumatic brain injury after age 68 strongly increased the risk of Alzheimer's diagnosis, but this risk dropped significantly with each passing year. The elevated danger appeared to fade roughly five years after the injury, suggesting the link is short-term rather than permanent.
• PTOTCohort2023Does Spasticity Correlate With Motor Impairment in the Upper and Lower Limbs in Ambulatory Chronic Stroke Survivors?American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitationIn ambulatory chronic stroke survivors, upper limb spasticity correlated with greater motor impairment and weaker grip strength. Lower limb spasticity did not correlate with motor impairment or gait speed. Clinicians may need to prioritize weakness over spasticity when addressing lower limb walking function.
• OTPilot2023An evaluation of 3D printable elastics for post stroke dynamic hand bracing: a pilot study.Assistive technology : the official journal of RESNAFive stroke survivors rated a 3D-printed dynamic hand brace similarly to a commercial brace. However, some prototype braces reduced pinch force, and prototype and commercial braces reduced block transfers.
• PTOTRCT2024Associations between baseline cognitive status and motor outcomes after treadmill training in people with Parkinson's disease: a pilot study.Disability and rehabilitationPeople with Parkinson's and mild cognitive impairment improved their gait speed as much as those with normal cognition after treadmill training. However, better memory scores at the start predicted larger speed gains. Motor severity also mattered: lower baseline symptoms linked to greater improvement.
• PTOTSLPOther2023Clinical practice recommendations for management of lateropulsion after stroke determined by a Delphi expert panel.Clinical rehabilitationExperts agreed on 119 recommendations for lateropulsion care, prioritising tactile cues and active self-correction over passive correction. They rejected routine use of novel tech like VR. No consensus was reached on optimal therapy dose, leaving that to clinical judgement.
• PTOTSLPPilot2023Promoting Resilience After Stroke in Dyads (ReStoreD): A Supplemental Analysis.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationResilience scores improved significantly in people with stroke after a 8-week dyadic activity programme. Care partners showed no significant change. The waitlist control group dropped out, so the analysis was single-arm and cannot confirm the programme caused the improvement.
• OTRCT2023Pressure Injury Data Reconciliation in a Randomized Controlled Trial.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationMedical record review found 82% of serious pressure injuries, while scheduled skin checks found 37%. Phone interviews missed many injuries, especially in patients with multiple wounds. Researchers must reconcile data from multiple sources to avoid underreporting.
• PTOTOther2023Daily Vibrotactile Stimulation Exhibits Equal or Greater Spasticity Relief Than Botulinum Toxin in Stroke.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationDaily vibrotactile stimulation reduced hand spasticity in stroke survivors, with effects matching or exceeding botulinum toxin injections. Relief persisted one month after stopping the glove. Active finger extension improved significantly during use, unlike with injections.
• PTOTSystematic Review2023A systematic review examining the effect of vitamin D supplementation on functional outcomes post-stroke.Clinical rehabilitationVitamin D after stroke showed mixed functional effects: some studies reported better balance, walking, daily living or impairment scores, but others did not. The studies were small and inconsistent, so no reliable clinical conclusion can be drawn.
• PTOTCohort2023Burden of Cardiovascular Risk in Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury and Its Association With Rehabilitation Outcomes: Results From the Swiss Spinal Cord Injury Cohort.American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitationSpinal cord injury patients leaving rehab have high cardiovascular risk. Better breathing, mobility, and independence scores link to healthier cholesterol. Clinicians should consider screening these patients for heart risk before discharge, especially those with lower function.
• PTOTSLPOther2023Iterative Development of the Caregiver Wellness After Traumatic Brain Injury Program (CG-Well).The Journal of head trauma rehabilitationCaregivers of adults with severe traumatic brain injury rated a new web-based support program as highly acceptable and feasible. Feedback focused on health literacy and delivery preferences. The program is ready for efficacy testing but does not yet prove clinical benefit.
• PTOTSystematic Review2023Dose, Content, and Context of Usual Care in Stroke Upper Limb Motor Interventions: A Systematic Review.Clinical rehabilitationUsual care dose for stroke upper limb recovery is highly variable. Time on task ranged from 8 to 44 minutes per day, and repetitions from 15 to 282 per day. Patients with severe upper limb impairment or cognitive issues received less active practice time.
• PTOTSLPCohort2024Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Does Not Significantly Affect Midlife Cognitive Functioning Within the General Population: Findings From a Prospective Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study.The Journal of head trauma rehabilitationMidlife cognitive tests showed no meaningful difference between people with a history of mild traumatic brain injury and those without. Any small initial gap in processing speed disappeared once childhood IQ, education, and substance use were accounted for.
• PTOTSLPOther2024A Descriptive Analysis of Access to Assistive Technology in Children With Acquired Brain Injury: The Right to Assistive Devices.The Journal of head trauma rehabilitationOnly 55% of prescribed assistive devices reached patients, with an average delay of 69.4 days. Insurance barriers caused most non-deliveries. Clinicians should anticipate significant delays and actively track device status rather than assuming prescriptions are fulfilled.
• PTOTSLPRCT2023Climb up! Head up! Climbing improves posture in Parkinson's disease. A secondary analysis from a randomized controlled trial.Clinical rehabilitationSport climbing improved forward-stooped posture in Parkinson's disease, reducing the distance from the neck to the wall by 1.7 cm. This physical change did not improve quality of life or reduce fear of falling, but offers a concrete option for correcting spinal flexion.
• OTSLPCohort2023Identification of Factors in Moderate-Severe TBI Related to a Functional Decline in Cognition Decades After Injury.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationOnly 11% of moderate-severe TBI survivors showed functional cognitive decline over 20 years. Older age at injury and longer post-traumatic amnesia were the key predictors. Health behaviors like alcohol use or income did not add predictive value beyond these injury factors.
• PTOTOther2023Development of a Short Form Assessment Combining the Fugl-Meyer Assessment-Upper Extremity and the Wolf Motor Function Test for Evaluating Stroke Recovery.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationA new 15-item upper extremity assessment combines items from two common stroke tests. It measures a single construct of functional capacity and can distinguish five different levels of recovery. It is not yet proven to track change over time or work well for severe impairment.
• PTOTCohort2024A Single Dermatome Clinical Prediction Rule for Independent Walking 1 Year After Spinal Cord Injury.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationNormal pinprick at both lateral heels within 31 days after spinal cord injury was associated with 86% reporting independent walking at 1 year. Any pinprick at either heel was associated with 76%.
• PTOTCohort2023aBnormal motION capture In aCute Stroke (BIONICS): A Low-Cost Tele-Evaluation Tool for Automated Assessment of Upper Extremity Function in Stroke Patients.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairA machine learning tool using smartphone video scored 16 of 33 Fugl-Meyer items with 78.1% to 82.7% accuracy compared to expert raters. This shows a low-cost way to assess arm function remotely, though it cannot yet measure all movements or strength.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2023Physical functioning factors predicting a return home after stroke rehabilitation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical rehabilitationHigher independence in motor daily living tasks strongly predicts stroke discharge home. Quick checks like rolling, sitting, standing, transferring, and walking 10m are useful initial indicators. Thresholds of 20 on the Berg Balance Scale and 26 on motor Functional Independence Measure at admission help distinguish patients likely to return home.
• OTSurvey2024Emotional, Behavioral, and Cognitive Symptom Associations With Community Participation in Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury.The Journal of head trauma rehabilitationIn adults with chronic TBI, self-reported executive dysfunction was linked to less productive, social, and community participation. Asking about everyday planning, organization, and follow-through may reveal barriers that brief phone cognitive testing may not capture.
• PTOTSystematic Review2024The use of home-based digital technology to support post-stroke upper limb rehabilitation: A scoping review.Clinical rehabilitationHome digital tools like VR and robots are widely used for post-stroke arm rehab, with studies mainly reporting feasibility and user satisfaction rather than proven effectiveness. Evidence on whether these tools match clinic-based therapy remains inconsistent and limited.
• PTOTOther2023Validating the measurement of upper limb sensorimotor behavior utilizing a tablet in neurologically intact controls and individuals with chronic stroke.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationA tablet reaching test produced largely similar movement scores to a robot test in controls and chronic stroke, and some tablet scores related to Fugl-Meyer scores. It is a measurement tool, not a treatment.
• PTOTSLPRCT2023Effects of an Acute High Intensity Exercise Bout on Retention of Explicit, Strategic Locomotor Learning in Individuals With Chronic Stroke.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairA brief bout of high-intensity exercise after learning a new walking pattern did not improve 24-hour retention in people with chronic stroke. This null result held for both a five-minute continuous protocol and a 15-minute interval protocol. Exercise priming did not help.
• PTOTCase Series2023A bidirectional fabric-based soft robotic glove for hand function assistance in patients with chronic stroke.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationIn eight chronic stroke patients, hand task scores were higher with the soft robotic glove module and thumb splint than unassisted in one session. Grip strength did not change.
• OTCase Report2023Effect of bihemispheric transcranial direct current stimulation on distal upper limb function and corticospinal tract excitability in a patient with subacute stroke: a case study.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesOne subacute stroke patient showed larger wrist and finger function gains and lower forearm co-contraction during bihemispheric tDCS than during anodal tDCS. With no control period, this cannot show the stimulation caused the change.
• PTOTCohort2024Multi-joint Assessment of Proprioception Impairments Poststroke.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationStroke survivors showed significantly worse proprioception at the shoulder, elbow, and wrist compared to healthy controls. Wrist sensation was the most impaired, often accompanied by errors in identifying which joint moved or its direction. Four participants could not detect movement at all.
• PTOTSLPCase Report2023Use of artificial intelligence large language models as a clinical tool in rehabilitation medicine: a comparative test case.Journal of rehabilitation medicineChatGPT-4 produced rehabilitation prescriptions and ICF codes for one textbook stroke case. The 3-digit codes were reported as accurate, but one body-structure code listed the left hand instead of the right precentral gyrus, so clinician checking is needed.
• PTOTSLPCohort2023Sex/gender differences in service use patterns, clinical outcomes and mortality risk for adults with acquired brain injury: a retrospective cohort study (ABI-RESTART).Journal of rehabilitation medicineWomen entered post-acute brain injury care with lower motor function than men but made equivalent functional gains. However, women were significantly more likely to require multiple episodes of care, suggesting they face greater barriers to community integration after discharge.
• PTOTRCT2023Autonomy support encourages use of more-affected arm post-stroke.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationStroke survivors allowed to choose their own task difficulty during reaching training used their more-affected arm significantly more in the lab. However, this did not transfer to real-world daily activities. High repetition alone improved motor performance, but only autonomy support changed spontaneous arm choice.
• PTOTOther2023Effects of a soft robotic exosuit on the quality and speed of overground walking depends on walking ability after stroke.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationA soft robotic exosuit increased walking speed in slower walkers poststroke but not in faster walkers. It improved propulsion and foot landing without increasing energy cost or reducing muscle activity. These were immediate, single-session effects, not evidence of long-term recovery.
• OTOther2023Measurement of Sleep in Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury: Relationship Between Self-report and Actigraphy.The Journal of head trauma rehabilitationWrist monitor sleep duration and awakenings did not predict self-rated sleep quality or fatigue in adults with chronic moderate-severe TBI. Short morning diaries did show their self-reported sleep duration closely matched monitor data.
• PTOTPilot2023Effects of Real-Time Pressure Map Feedback on Confidence in Pressure Management in Wheelchair Users With Spinal Cord Injury: Pilot Intervention Study.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesReal-time pressure feedback significantly improved wheelchair users' confidence in knowing how far to lean to relieve pressure. It did not improve confidence in performing weight shifts frequently or for long enough. Standard education alone also increased confidence in preventing skin breakdown.
• PTOTOther2023Going beyond PA: Assessing sensorimotor capacity with wearables in multiple sclerosis-a cross-sectional study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationSmartwatch data from 90 people with MS linked movement patterns to clinical severity, but not reliably to specific upper-limb skills. One metric tracked grip strength independently of disability scores, while others mixed activity volume with ability.
• PTOTOther2023"The Days Are Long But the Nights Are Even Longer": A Mixed-Method Study of Sleep Disturbances Among Patients in an Inpatient Rehabilitation Program.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translationPatients on an inpatient rehabilitation ward reported significantly poorer sleep than before admission, with 75% classified as poor sleepers. However, sleep quality did not predict functional recovery speed. Staff identified noise, pain, and lack of routine sleep assessments as key barriers.
• PTOTCase Report2023A Case Report Illustrating the Combined Use of Cryoneurolysis and Percutaneous Needle Tenotomy in the Treatment of Longstanding Spastic Shoulder Contractures After Stroke.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translationIn a single stroke patient with longstanding pectoralis contracture, chest nerve freezing gave an immediate 20 degree increase in shoulder range, and at 8 weeks after also freezing leg nerves and cutting chest tendon she reported easier dressing, less pain, and better walking.
• PTOTSystematic Review2023Electromagnetic radiation therapy for Parkinson's disease tremor reduction- systematic reviews and Bayesian meta-analyses for comparing the effectiveness of electric, magnetic and light stimulation methods.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationLight, magnetic, and electrical stimulation all reduced Parkinson's tremor in pooled analyses. However, the evidence relies on small studies with mixed designs. The authors state these results should not guide clinical practice yet.
• PTOTSLPOther2023Finding functionality: Rasch analysis of the Functionality Appreciation Scale in community-dwelling adults in the US.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesThe Functionality Appreciation Scale measures one single trait, but it is too easy for most healthy adults. Many score the maximum, so the test cannot tell the difference between someone with high appreciation and someone with moderate appreciation.