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 41 OF 56 · NEWEST FIRST

• PTOTMeta-Analysis2024Effects of virtual reality rehabilitation after spinal cord injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationVirtual reality after spinal cord injury improved walking index and balance on some measures, but not lower-limb motor scores or daily living independence. Evidence is limited and mixed, so it may be an add-on, not a replacement.
• PTOTCase-Control2024Dynamical network-based evaluation for neuromuscular dysfunction in stroke-induced hemiplegia during standing.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationStroke patients show rigid, overly coupled muscle coordination during standing, especially without vision. This stiffness correlates with poor balance. The unaffected side compensates heavily, while the affected side's muscles contribute less, suggesting targeted training for the weak side may be needed.
• PTOTSLPOther2024Comparison of synergy extrapolation and static optimization for estimating multiple unmeasured muscle activations during walking.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationFor two post-stroke walkers, a new computer method estimated missing muscle activity more accurately than standard static optimization. It produced smoother, more realistic muscle force predictions, but this was a small technical validation, not a clinical trial.
• PTOTCohort2024Rest the brain to learn new gait patterns after stroke.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationStroke survivors with mild impairment learned a new gait pattern more slowly than controls during practice. However, they gained more performance overnight while controls lost it. This suggests scheduling rest between sessions may help stroke patients consolidate motor learning.
• PTOTSLPCohort2024The effectiveness and costs of intensive stroke rehabilitation and improvements in patient pathway in Finland: a retrospective benchmarking controlled trial.Journal of rehabilitation medicineStroke pathway changes in Lahti and Päijät-Häme were linked to more patients discharged home, fewer institutionalized, shorter episodes and lower costs, but mortality did not improve.
• PTOTRCT2025Causal Mediation Analysis of Factors Influencing Physical Activity and Community Access Among People With Mild-to-Moderate Parkinson Disease.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationBaseline walking self-efficacy predicted increased physical activity, and walking capacity predicted broader community access. However, non-motor symptoms like back pain and cognitive flexibility did not mediate these relationships, suggesting direct behavioral and physical capacities drive outcomes more than indirect symptom pathways.
• PTOTSystematic Review2025Influences on the physical activity behaviour of inpatients after stroke outside of staff-led rehabilitation sessions: a systematic review.Clinical rehabilitationAfter stroke, inpatient activity outside therapy was influenced by staff time, usable ward spaces, family visitors, and rules about moving. Some supported activity; others kept patients inactive.
• PTOTSLPCohort2024Evaluation of Visual Disturbances After Mild Traumatic Brain Injury-A One-Year Follow-up Study.The Journal of head trauma rehabilitationOne year after mild brain injury, visual symptoms like tired eyes and blurred vision improved for most patients. However, specific eye coordination problems, particularly with distance fusion and dynamic visual acuity, remained common, suggesting these deficits do not always resolve spontaneously.
• PTOTCohort2024Patient satisfaction with rehabilitation services following traumatic brain injury: a quality registry study.Journal of rehabilitation medicineBelief in recovery was the strongest predictor of satisfaction with TBI rehabilitation, increasing odds by 2.73 times. Longer wait times decreased satisfaction odds by 61% for outpatient clinics and 50% for primary care. Higher symptom burden predicted lower satisfaction with specialized outpatient care.
• PTOTCohort2024Epidemiological investigation of traumatic spinal cord injury caused by object strike in China: strategies for workplace safety improvement.Journal of rehabilitation medicineMost spinal cord injuries from object strikes happened to male manual labourers aged 30–44. They mostly had complete paraplegia, high complication rates, and long hospital stays. Work injury insurance coverage was low, leaving many to pay out-of-pocket.
• PTOTPilot2024Paired associative stimulation improves motor function in the upper extremity in chronic incomplete spinal cord injury: a corroborative study.Journal of rehabilitation medicineFive people with chronic cervical spinal cord injury completed a 16-session paired associative stimulation programme. Motor scores in the treated hand rose modestly but missed statistical significance, while the untreated hand showed a small significant gain. Individual responses varied widely.
• PTOTSLPOther2025Relationships Between Cognitive Impairments and Motor Learning After Stroke: A Scoping Review.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairCognitive deficits often limit motor learning after stroke, particularly with explicit tasks and movement-quality feedback. Patients with attention or memory issues may benefit more from implicit learning and result-focused feedback. Evidence is preliminary due to small studies and inconsistent testing methods.
• PTOTOther2025Discordance Between Balance Ability and Perception Is Associated With Falls in Parkinson's Disease: A Coordinated Analysis.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairPeople with Parkinson's who were under-confident in their balance, despite their actual ability, were more likely to be fallers. This discordance predicted falls better than balance tests or severity scores alone.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2024Examining the effectiveness of motor imagery combined with non-invasive brain stimulation for upper limb recovery in stroke patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationCombining motor imagery with brain stimulation improved upper limb function and daily activities more than either alone in acute and subacute stroke patients. Benefits faded by four weeks after treatment ended, and the approach showed no advantage for chronic stroke survivors.
• PTOTPilot2024Therapeutic effects of powered exoskeletal robot-assisted gait training in inpatients in the early stage after stroke: a pilot case-controlled study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationAdding six sessions of powered exoskeleton gait training to standard care did not significantly improve walking speed compared to standard care alone. However, a higher proportion of patients receiving the robot reached the clinically important improvement threshold for walking speed and daily activities.
• PTOTCohort2024Telerehabilitation using a 2-D planar arm rehabilitation robot for hemiparetic stroke: a feasibility study of clinic-to-home exergaming therapy.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationTwelve chronic stroke survivors used a home robot with carer supervision for 30 days. Adherence was high at 87.7% and no one dropped out due to injury. Arm function improved modestly, but half did not reach a clinically meaningful gain.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Relationship between characteristics of segmental phase angles and walking ability in patients with hemiplegia after stroke and traumatic brain injury in a convalescent rehabilitation ward.International journal of rehabilitation research. Internationale Zeitschrift fur Rehabilitationsforschung. Revue internationale de recherches de readaptationIn patients with hemiplegia, higher trunk phase angle at admission was associated with better walking ability at discharge, independent of paralysis severity and nutrition. Limb phase angles did not show this association.
• PTOTQualitative2025Perceptions of digitally supported home exercise for people with Parkinson's disease: A qualitative study.Clinical rehabilitationPeople with Parkinson's described digitally supported home exercise as both hopeful and burdensome: it let them actively resist disease, but unclear limits, self-doubt, home privacy, tech errors and mixed advice made adherence hard.
• PTOTRCT2024Effectiveness of unilateral lower-limb exoskeleton robot on balance and gait recovery and neuroplasticity in patients with subacute stroke: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationIn subacute stroke, 4 weeks of robot-assisted overground walking plus conventional rehab improved balance more than conventional rehab alone. Both groups improved, but the robot group had higher Berg balance scores and better affected-leg gait measures.
• PTOTSLPCohort2024Sub-acute stroke demonstrates altered beta oscillation and connectivity pattern in working memory.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationStroke patients with poor motor recovery showed slower reaction times and lower working memory accuracy than healthy controls. Their brain scans lacked the normal beta rebound and frontal-parietal connectivity seen in patients with good recovery, linking these neural patterns to cognitive deficits.
• OTSLPSurvey2024Exploring the 'EarSwitch' concept: a novel ear based control method for assistive technology.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationMost people with neurological disorders can still voluntarily rumble their ears. Self-reported ability matched observed eardrum movement in 80% of cases tested. This suggests ear rumbling is a viable, invisible switch for assistive technology, particularly for those with motor neurone disease.
• PTOTOther2025The Use of Extrinsic Performance Feedback and Reward to Enhance Upper Limb Motor Behavior and Recovery Post-Stroke: A Scoping Review.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairFeedback during upper-limb stroke practice may change movement speed, accuracy, learning, and compensation, but studies are too varied and small to tell therapists which feedback to use.
• PTOTRCT2025Cost consequences analysis of early vocational rehabilitation compared with usual care for stroke survivors.Clinical rehabilitationEarly specialist vocational rehabilitation cost more than usual care but produced only a tiny, non-significant gain in quality-adjusted life years. The study's conclusion is highly uncertain because 85% of cost data was missing. Do not assume this proves the intervention is poor value.
• PTOTCohort2025Coaching stroke survivors to persevere with practice: An observational behavioural mapping study.Clinical rehabilitationTherapists frequently used coaching strategies like monitoring practice quality and providing feedback, but rarely set collaborative long-term goals or prescribed independent home exercises. This structured, therapist-led approach may increase dependence and leave survivors unprepared for the transition to home-based rehabilitation.
• PTOTSLPRCT2024Therapeutic singing and expiratory muscle strength training in Parkinson's disease: a mixed methods comparison.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesExpiratory muscle strength training and therapeutic singing produced no significant differences in quality of life, depression, or anxiety in people with Parkinson's disease. Both interventions were highly adhered to, but quality of life scores worsened over time regardless of treatment.
• PTOTSLPOther2024Barriers for work in people with multiple sclerosis: a Norwegian cultural adaptation and validation of the short version of the multiple sclerosis work difficulties questionnaire.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesThe Norwegian version of the MSWDQ-23 reliably measures work difficulties in people with multiple sclerosis. It distinguishes those who worked recently from those who did not, and separates relapsing-remitting from progressive MS based on physical barriers. Use it to identify specific employment obstacles during routine follow-up.
• PTOTSLPCohort2024Fatigue among children and adolescents with acquired brain injury in a specialized neurorehabilitation setting.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesFatigue improved during intensive neurorehabilitation, but only self-reported changes in general and sleep fatigue were significant. Parents consistently rated their child's fatigue as more severe than the children did, particularly regarding cognitive difficulties.
• PTOTOther2024A co-design process to develop personalized mobility programming for individuals with mobility impairments.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesPeople with neurological mobility impairments and clinicians co-designed four mobility programs. The paper reports design, not evidence that they help.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Motivation in veterans with an acute/subacute ischemic stroke did not improve cognition and functional motor recovery but reduced deaths.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineVeterans with higher motivation showed no better motor or cognitive recovery than those with lower motivation. However, the less motivated group had significantly more deaths. Do not assume low motivation predicts poor functional gains, but consider it a potential mortality risk marker.
• PTOTOther2024Design and control of a low-cost non-backdrivable end-effector upper limb rehabilitation device.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesA low-cost upper limb robot moved its handle within 0.012 mm of set paths in tests on one healthy engineer. It offers passive, active and game modes, but no stroke patients were treated.
• PTOTOther2024Evaluating inter- and intra-rater reliability in assessing upper limb compensatory movements post-stroke: creating a ground truth through video analysis?Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationExperienced therapists agreed moderately well when rating specific arm movements in stroke videos, but disagreed heavily on overall smoothness and coordination. These wide gaps mean therapist video ratings alone are not yet reliable enough to train automated assessment tools.
• PTOTSLPQualitative2024Stroke and liminality: narratives of reconfiguring identity after stroke and their implications for person-centred stroke care.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesStroke survivors described an identity crisis where they felt trapped between their old and new selves. This liminal state often persisted indefinitely, driven by stigma, loss of autonomy, and a sense of powerlessness in healthcare. Professional psychological support was key to moving past this uncertainty.
• PTOTRCT2024Encouraging arm use in stroke survivors: the impact of smart reminders during a home-based intervention.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationSmart reminders increased objective arm activity counts in stroke survivors but did not improve patient-reported use or clinical function scores compared to controls. The functional gains were small and below clinically meaningful thresholds, with high data loss limiting certainty.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Employment Outcomes Among Clients With Stroke Utilizing Public Vocational Rehabilitation Services in the United States.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationStroke survivors using vocational rehab had a 36.4% competitive employment rate. Short-term job supports, placement help, and rehab tech linked to better outcomes. Job search assistance and assessments linked to worse outcomes. Disability benefits and longer service duration also linked to lower employment rates.
• PTOTRCT2025Overground robotic exoskeleton vs conventional therapy in inpatient stroke rehabilitation: results from a pragmatic, multicentre implementation programme.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationOverground robotic exoskeletons allowed stroke patients to walk significantly further during therapy than conventional physiotherapy. However, functional gains were similar between groups overall. Only patients with moderate baseline impairment showed better motor function scores with the robot, though this finding requires cautious interpretation due to study limitations.
• PTOTOther2024Predicting upper limb motor recovery in subacute stroke patients via fNIRS-measured cerebral functional responses induced by robotic training.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationBrain activity measured during the first session of robotic arm training predicted short-term motor recovery better than resting scans. Combining these brain measures with basic clinical data improved accuracy, suggesting task-induced neural responses offer early prognostic insight for subacute stroke patients.
• PTOTOther2024Proportional myoelectric control of a virtual bionic arm in participants with hemiparesis, muscle spasticity, and impaired range of motion.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationTen stroke survivors with hemiparesis, including four with severe spasticity, controlled a virtual hand by muscle activity. Grasp control was similar to healthy controls; paretic extension was less accurate. This does not show a physical device helps daily tasks.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2024Cognitive-motor dual-task training on gait and balance in stroke patients: meta-analytic report and trial sequential analysis of randomized clinical trials.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationAdding cognitive tasks to stroke gait or balance rehab did not clearly improve Time Up and Go or walking speed. Berg Balance Scale scores may rise, but the evidence is too small to confirm it.
• OTPilot2025Immersive virtual reality to assess unilateral spatial neglect in stroke patients: a preliminary study.Journal of rehabilitation medicineVR cancellation testing showed broadly similar time and performance to paper-and-pencil Bells testing, and was feasible and acceptable in 32 stroke patients. It detected neglect in all but one neglect patient in ecological VR.
• PTOTSLPNarrative Review2024Postoperative cognitive dysfunction in elderly postcardiac surgery patients: progress in rehabilitation application research.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesThis review outlines how to assess and manage cognitive decline after cardiac surgery. It highlights that while cognitive training and exercise show some promise, evidence for long-term benefits in post-cardiac surgery patients is still emerging and often mixed.
• PTOTCohort2024Development of a quantitative assessment for abnormal flexor synergy index in patients with stroke: a validity and responsiveness study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationA new markerless motion capture index tracks abnormal elbow flexion during shoulder lifting. It correlates with standard impairment scores and detects small functional gains after therapy. The test takes seconds, offering a quick quantitative measure for stroke rehabilitation.
• PTOTCohort2024More absolute moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is associated with better health-related quality of life in outpatients with an acquired brain injury.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesOutpatients with brain injury who did more absolute moderate-to-vigorous activity had better quality of life. This link held even when accounting for age and fitness. Individualized intensity thresholds showed no such association. The small sample and cross-sectional design mean this is not proof that activity causes improvement.
• PTOTCohort2024Relationship between functional independence and community integration of people with spinal cord injury in Bangladesh.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesFor 200 adults with spinal cord injury, independence at discharge did not track with home or social community integration one month later. Injury level and completeness mattered more, so therapists should not assume discharge independence guarantees reintegration.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2025Screening and outcomes of co-occurring traumatic brain injury among people with spinal cord injury: a scoping review.Journal of rehabilitation medicineCo-occurring brain injury is frequently missed in spinal cord injury patients due to poor documentation. Mild injuries are hardest to detect. Outcomes are mixed, but moderate to severe cases often face longer stays and lower independence. Rely on multiple markers, not just one test.
• PTOTSLPOther2025Satisfaction, effectiveness, and usability of telerehabilitation for Parkinson's disease patients.Journal of rehabilitation medicineParkinson's patients rated telerehabilitation highly for convenience and emotional support, yet their overall quality of life significantly worsened over 6 months. Only 19 of 56 reported improved quality of life. The programme helped maintain exercise routines but did not stop symptom progression.
• PTOTSystematic Review2025Ethnicity and health-related quality of life in the post stroke population: a systematic review.Journal of rehabilitation medicineEight of 11 stroke studies found better quality of life in majority ethnic groups; 2 found better outcomes in minority groups, and 1 found no difference. Asians scored better in two studies. Where measured, differences were small or moderate.
• PTOTSLPRCT2025Randomized controlled trial of cognitive behavioral therapy versus health education for sleep disturbance and fatigue following stroke and traumatic brain injury.Journal of rehabilitation medicineCognitive behavioral therapy improved sleep quality more than health education immediately after treatment. However, there were no significant differences between the two groups at 2 or 4 months follow-up. Both groups showed similar long-term gains, suggesting health education may be sufficient for sustained improvement.
• PTOTSurvey2025Self-reported physical activity more than 1 year after stroke and its determinants in relation to the WHO recommendations.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitationTwo-thirds of stroke survivors reported physical activity levels below WHO recommendations over a year after onset. Those needing home help, using mobility devices, living alone, or who were older were significantly less active. Stroke type and time since onset did not predict activity levels.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Exploring the role of the rock climbing Treadwall as a novel therapy tool in physical rehabilitation.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitationNine children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy used a rotating climbing wall for 10 minutes daily. They climbed significantly farther and faster after three weeks. Upper limb function scores improved. The study confirms feasibility and safety but cannot prove the wall caused the gains.
• PTOTOther2025Development of the Italian version of the Motricity Index and evaluation of its reliability in adults with stroke.Journal of rehabilitation medicineThe Italian Motricity Index reliably measures motor impairment on the more affected side after stroke, but shows poor agreement between therapists on the less affected side. Expect measurement error of 9-25% on the affected side, so small score changes are not true improvements.