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 55 OF 56 · NEWEST FIRST

• OTRCT2022An app-based just-in-time-adaptive self-management intervention for care partners: The CareQOL feasibility pilot study.Rehabilitation psychologyPeople caring for someone with spinal cord injury, Huntington disease or a stem cell transplant stuck with a 90-day app and Fitbit: 69 of 70 finished. The app group scored better on 3 of 10 measures, but the trial was too small to confirm benefit.
• PTOTRCT2023Fidelity of Delivery in a Multisite Randomized Clinical Trial of Intervention Efficacy for Infants With Unilateral Cerebral Palsy.Pediatric physical therapy : the official publication of the Section on Pediatrics of the American Physical Therapy AssociationTherapists delivered baby bimanual and baby constraint-induced therapy as designed in 64 of 72 recorded home sessions. All 8 lower-fidelity sessions were Baby-BIM, 6 of them from home visit 4 onwards. This shows delivery, not whether either therapy works.
• OTRCT2022Effects of Task-Based LSVT-BIG Intervention on Hand Function, Activity of Daily Living, Psychological Function, and Quality of Life in Parkinson's Disease: A Randomized Control Trial.Occupational therapy internationalIn 14 people with Parkinson's, adding task-based LSVT-BIG to occupational therapy improved everyday activity scores and anxiety more than occupational therapy plus relaxation, and improved hand dexterity in both hands. Depression and quality of life did not differ between the groups.
• PTOTRCT2022Use of an EMG-Controlled Game as a Therapeutic Tool to Retrain Hand Muscle Activation Patterns Following Stroke: A Pilot Study.Journal of neurologic physical therapy : JNPTChronic stroke survivors with moderate hand weakness got faster and more direct at steering a cursor with their hand muscles after nine sessions of an EMG-controlled game. Training with the affected hand alone or with both hands worked equally well.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2025Effects of brain-computer interface based training on post-stroke upper-limb rehabilitation: a meta-analysis.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationAdding brain-computer interface training to usual rehabilitation improved upper-limb motor scores after stroke: 3.69 points more than control on the Fugl-Meyer upper-extremity scale. Independence in daily activities and spasticity did not improve.
• OTMeta-Analysis2024A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to reduce burden, stress, and strain in informal stroke caregivers.Clinical rehabilitationPooling 19 trials with 1440 informal stroke caregivers, programmes built from education, support and problem-solving did not significantly reduce caregiver burden, strain or stress.
• OTSystematic Review2025Occupational therapy interventions in facilitating return to work in patients with traumatic brain injury: A systematic review.Work (Reading, Mass.)The reviewers conclude that return-to-work rates were highest when vocational and cognitive rehabilitation were combined with a multidisciplinary team, and clients said OT advocacy with employers helped most. But the evidence is thin: the highest-quality trial found no difference at 12 months.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2025Short-term effect of prism adaptation treatment on severity of unilateral spatial neglect following right hemispheric stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of rehabilitation medicinePrism adaptation improved unilateral spatial neglect symptoms shortly after treatment in people with right-hemisphere stroke, but not how they managed daily activities, and the evidence is very weak. The improvement appeared only with prisms of 10° or more.
• OTSystematic Review2024A rapid realist review of clinical neuropsychology rehabilitation programmes to improve psychological wellbeing and quality of life for people with acquired brain injuries.Neuropsychological rehabilitationAcross 35 studies, programmes that reportedly helped people after acquired brain injury shared six features: changing how people relate to their thoughts, building self-worth, teaching strategies to mastery, connection with others, adapting to the person, and a responsive facilitator. No treatment was tested here.
• OTRCT2026The Model of Occupational Self-Efficacy: A Contemporary Model to Enhance Work Skills, Cognitive and Emotional Skills of Individuals With Brain Injury-A Pilot Randomized Control Trial.Occupational therapy internationalNo questionnaire score differed significantly between groups: work-related skills, cognition, depression and anxiety all favoured MOOSE but none reached significance, anxiety coming closest at P = 0.06. At the end, 8 of 14 MOOSE participants were in competitive work, against 4 of 14 in usual care.
• PTOTCohort2026Real-world participation after spinal cord injury: longitudinal associations with return to work and long-term social integration.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineIn this US spinal cord injury registry, better mobility, more education and greater life satisfaction went with both working and better social integration, while non-private housing and greater care needs went with worse. Depressive symptoms tracked with social integration, not employment.
• PTOTSLPCohort2026Rehabilitation outcomes of patients with posterior circulation stroke after acute inpatient rehabilitation.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences90.3% of patients were home three months after a posterior circulation stroke and 59.7% walked independently with or without an aid, up from one person when they arrived on the rehabilitation ward. Only 11.1% had returned to work. No comparison group.
• OTSurvey2026Neurology and Cognitive Occupational Therapy Practice Across the Middle East and North Africa: An Exploratory Multicountry Cross-Sectional Survey.Occupational therapy internationalSeven in ten occupational therapists across 13 MENA countries reported using neurodevelopmental treatment for adult neurology, an approach current stroke guidelines do not endorse, and nearly as many also reported motor-learning approaches. Reported barriers were mainly organisational, not individual.
• OTQualitative2026Facilitating return to work after major traumatic injuries through early vocational rehabilitation: Therapists' activities and perspectives.Australian occupational therapy journalTherapists delivering early vocational rehabilitation after major trauma spent most of their time coordinating with others, giving emotional support and doing individualised work tasks, in 12 sessions of 33 minutes on average. They said early employer contact kept work goals alive.
• OTRCT2023Pilot RCT examining feasibility and disability outcomes of a mobile health platform for strategy training in inpatient stroke rehabilitation (iADAPT).Topics in stroke rehabilitationBoth groups improved meaningfully in disability, but the mobile health platform was not shown to be superior to the workbook. Fifty-five of those approached declined due to technology discomfort, and attrition was high in both groups. This is a feasibility signal, not an efficacy result.
• PTOTSystematic Review2022State of the science in inflammation and stroke recovery: A systematic review.Annals of physical and rehabilitation medicineCRP and IL-6 in the first 24 hours after stroke are associated with worse functional recovery at 1 year. Twelve weeks of resistive training did not increase inflammation in 20 subacute patients. Evidence is preliminary; studies are small.
• PTOTSystematic Review2025Dyad interventions for health-related quality of life, activity, and participation after stroke: a systematic review.Disability and rehabilitationAcross 17 trials of stroke survivor-caregiver dyad interventions, health-related quality of life results were mixed. Joint psychosocial approaches had the biggest effects in the studies that found any, while caregiver training and caregiver-mediated exercise did not consistently help.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2022Effect of vagus nerve stimulation paired with rehabilitation for upper limb function improvement after stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.International journal of rehabilitation research. Internationale Zeitschrift fur Rehabilitationsforschung. Revue internationale de recherches de readaptationVNS added to rehabilitation produced a 3.59-point gain on the FMA-UE, below the 4.25-to-7.25 range one study sets as clinically meaningful. The Wolf Motor Function Test gain met its threshold. Hand function, grip, and dexterity did not differ from rehabilitation alone.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2025What is the effect of education on fatigue in adults with neurological conditions? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical rehabilitationFatigue education produced a small but significant reduction in fatigue for people with neurological conditions, with the strongest effect seen in one-to-one delivery. For stroke specifically, the effect was negligible. Evidence certainty is low.
• PTOTSystematic Review2025Assessing Participation Among Stroke Survivors: A Systematic Review of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures.Occupational therapy internationalTen patient-reported scales assess stroke participation. SIS 3.0 has the most translations and broadest domain coverage. MAPA is the only one designed specifically for participation. Pick the tool that matches what you need to measure.
• OTRCT2025Efficacy of a prewriting intervention: A pilot randomised control trial.Australian occupational therapy journalSeventeen of the 18 kindergarten children improved their prewriting scores over time, but the group that received six weeks of extra instruction did not improve more than the waitlist group. The study was too small to detect a difference.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2024Effects of Balance Exercise Interventions on Balance-Related Performance in People With Multiple Sclerosis: A Systematic Review and a Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairBalance training in MS produces a moderate improvement in balance scores and a small improvement in mobility, but no change in gait speed or stepping. More training hours are associated with a larger effect. How many balance components are challenged is not.
• PTOTSystematic Review2022Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation Improves Activities of Daily Living Post Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translationNMES produced a moderate improvement in daily living scores for 428 post-stroke patients across 10 trials, but did not improve motor ability. The benefit was strongest in the subacute stage and for the upper limb. No adverse effects were reported.
• OTRCT2025A Metacognitive Strategy Intervention for People With Parkinson's Disease: Pilot and Feasibility Trial.The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy AssociationIn a pilot trial of 50 people with Parkinson's, a metacognitive strategy approach produced larger gains in self-rated daily cognitive goals than a task-practice control, though both groups improved. The trial was feasible, safe, and well received.
• OTRCT2024Contralaterally controlled functional electrical stimulation video game therapy for hand rehabilitation after stroke: a randomized controlled trial.Disability and rehabilitationAdding video games to electrical-stimulation hand therapy did not improve dexterity, impairment, or activity scores over 12 weeks in 39 stroke survivors with chronic hand weakness. The small gains seen in one group were not clinically meaningful.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2023Effects of Virtual Reality-Based Exercise on Balance in Patients With Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitationVR-based exercise improved balance by 1.35 points on a 56-point scale in chronic stroke, but showed no significant difference in acute or subacute patients. Most studies added VR on top of conventional therapy, so the VR-specific effect is unclear.
• PTOTSystematic Review2024Efficacy of acupuncture combined with mirror therapy in the treatment of post-stroke limb movement disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesAcupuncture added to mirror therapy improved upper and lower limb motor scores over either treatment alone or conventional rehab, across 42 trials of 3,340 stroke patients. Spasticity scores did not clearly improve.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2025Effects of mirror therapy on motor and functional recovery of the upper extremity in subacute stroke: Systematic review and meta-analysis.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitationMirror therapy improved arm movement, hand function, and daily living tasks in people within 6 months of stroke. The benefit appeared with both arms moving together, not with the unaffected arm alone. Quality of life did not change.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2023Efficacy of virtual reality training on motor performance, activity of daily living, and quality of life in patients with Parkinson's disease: an umbrella review comprising meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationVR training improved balance, stride length, and daily living in Parkinson's patients, but not walking speed or motor function. Evidence quality is low to very low, and all trials ran 3 to 12 weeks.
• PTOTSystematic Review2022Integrating virtual reality and exergaming in cognitive rehabilitation of patients with Parkinson disease: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineAcross 10 small trials of VR or exergaming for cognition in Parkinson's, results were mixed. Some showed the technology outperformed conventional rehab; others showed both groups improving equally. Most trials treated cognition as a secondary measure, and the tests were too varied to combine.
• PTOTRCT2025Task Practice With and Without Aerobic Exercise Improves Health-related Quality of Life and Social Participation Post-stroke: A Randomized Clinical Trial.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairAdding aerobic cycling to upper-extremity task practice did not improve quality of life, mood, or participation more than task practice alone in 60 people with chronic stroke. Both groups improved and kept those gains at 12 months.
• PTOTRCT2024Effect of task-oriented training assisted by force feedback hand rehabilitation robot on finger grasping function in stroke patients with hemiplegia: a randomised controlled trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationBoth groups improved hand function after 4 weeks of task-oriented training. The robot-assisted group gained more grip strength and finger range of motion, but showed no advantage on daily living scores or muscle tone.
• OTRCT2023Telehealth-Guided Virtual Reality for Recovery of Upper Extremity Function Following Stroke.OTJR : occupation, participation and healthStroke survivors using a virtual reality home exercise program with telehealth OT support improved their arm function by 8.6 points on a 66-point scale over 8 weeks, more than the usual-care group. They also reported using their weaker arm more in daily tasks.
• OTRCT2023Effect of Using TheraBracelet on Grasping versus Reaching in Poststroke Rehabilitation.OTJR : occupation, participation and healthIn 12 people with chronic stroke, wrist vibration added to hand-focused therapy sped up grasping (45% faster to lift a block) but not reaching. The control group got slower. With 6 per group and therapy aimed at grasping, the bracelet's role cannot be isolated.
• PTOTRCT2022Efficacy of sitting balance training with delayed visual feedback among patients with stroke: a randomized crossover clinical trial.Journal of physical therapy scienceDelayed visual feedback (500 ms) improved sitting balance, center-of-pressure excursion, and ADL scores in 20 stroke patients. Real-time visual feedback did not. The pattern held whether the delay came first or second.
• PTOTRCT2022Comparative effects of EMG-driven robot-assisted therapy versus task-oriented training on motor and daily function in patients with stroke: a randomized cross-over trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationBoth robot-assisted hand therapy and task-oriented training improved upper limb function in chronic stroke. Robot therapy was better for speed of task completion; task-oriented training was better for spontaneous arm use in daily life.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2022Examining the effectiveness of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality (VAMR) therapy for upper limb recovery and activities of daily living in stroke patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationVirtual, augmented and mixed reality training beat conventional therapy on arm movement quality and day to day independence after stroke. On hand dexterity and timed arm tasks it showed no clear advantage. The gains were clearest in people more than 6 months after stroke.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2025Virtual Reality Therapy for Upper Limb Motor Impairments in Patients With Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapyNon-immersive VR added to conventional therapy improved upper limb motor function and manual dexterity in stroke patients, but did not improve daily living activities. Effects were significant in the first six months after stroke and when VR supplemented rather than replaced standard therapy.
• PTOTSystematic Review2025Effectiveness of Robot-Assisted Upper Extremity Function Training (Gloreha) on Upper Extremities Function After Stroke: Systematic Review.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesGloreha, a robotic finger glove, improved upper extremity motor scores in stroke survivors. Grip strength results were mixed across trials. It did not outperform conventional therapy on daily living tasks. Evidence comes from 3 small trials with 83 people.
• PTOTRCT2025Digital Mirror Therapy and Action Observation Therapy for Chronic Stroke: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.Occupational therapy internationalAll three groups improved in arm movement and daily use, but none was significantly better than the others. Digital mirror therapy and digital action observation therapy did not outperform conventional occupational therapy in this small trial.
• OTQualitative2025How do people with disability and complex needs experience the built environment in apartments designed for people with disability?Australian occupational therapy journalPeople with disability in SDA apartments reported that space, accessible design, technology, and sensory control all shape their autonomy. Some were retrofitting fittings; many had waited for equipment. Participants said tenant input in design is essential.
• PTOTOther2024Evolving trends of systematic reviews on virtual reality for stroke rehabilitation.Archives of physiotherapyThe number of SRs on VR for stroke has grown to 58 published and 45 ongoing, but 77.6% of the published ones are rated critically low on methodological quality. Upper limb function, ADL, and gait are the most studied outcomes.
• OTSystematic Review2023Motor imagery as an intervention to improve activities of daily living post-stroke: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials.The British journal of occupational therapyAudio-guided motor imagery added to other treatments improved daily living independence in all four studies that tested it. Therapist-delivered imagery showed mixed results, and visual-guided imagery showed no benefit over controls.
• PTOTSystematic Review2023Motor Imagery and Mental Practice in the Subacute and Chronic Phases in Upper Limb Rehabilitation after Stroke: A Systematic Review.Occupational therapy internationalImagining hand movements added to standard therapy improved upper limb function in most of 11 stroke studies, but every study paired it with physiotherapy or occupational therapy, so the independent effect of mental practice alone is unknown.
• OTQualitative2026The Risks and Benefits of Humour Use With Individuals After Stroke.Canadian journal of occupational therapy. Revue canadienne d'ergotherapieCanadian stroke OTs reached consensus on 32 benefits they see in humour during therapy, from building rapport to easing anxiety. Two risks survived: sarcasm may be misread by clients with cognitive deficits, and some clients simply will not find it funny.
• OTSystematic Review2026Vocational rehabilitation and return to work after spinal cord injury: a scoping review of policies in the U.S. and Canada.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesSupported employment (IPS) outperformed traditional vocational counseling for SCI return to work, with a 43.2% competitive employment rate. The biggest barrier in both the U.S. and Canada is fear of losing disability benefits and healthcare coverage.
• PTOTOther2026Association between sociodemographic and injury factors in community reintegration following spinal cord injury: An analysis of two datasets.The South African journal of physiotherapyBeing younger and employed was linked to fuller community reintegration in 182 people with spinal cord injury in South Africa. Injury level, severity, and type were not associated with reintegration.
• PTOTCohort2026Botulinum toxin treatment for multiple sclerosis and post-stroke spasticity in clinical practice: differences in injection doses and patterns.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesMS patients receive lower botulinum toxin doses and are injected in different muscles than stroke patients, yet both groups report similar benefit. Dosing was individualized rather than protocol-driven.
• OTCohort2026Flourishing, social participation and reintegration difficulties: a 2-year cohort study of US military veterans with invisible injuries.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesReintegration difficulties stayed flat over two years in 75 veterans with invisible injuries, while community participation improved. Better participation and fewer reintegration problems went hand in hand with greater well-being and more social support.
• PTOTCase Report2026Evaluation of an intensive, private, community, upper limb rehabilitation program for people with chronic stroke: a mixed methods case series.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesOne of two people with chronic stroke who completed 18 hours of intensive upper limb therapy over six weeks showed an arm impairment gain above the minimal clinically important difference. The other did not. Self-efficacy went up for one and down for the other.