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 7 OF 56 · NEWEST FIRST

• OTSurvey2018The impact of self-perceived limitations, stigma and sense of coherence on quality of life in multiple sclerosis patients: results of a cross-sectional study.Clinical rehabilitationPatients who felt more limited or stigmatized reported lower quality of life. Those who found life more understandable, manageable and meaningful reported higher quality of life.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2018Depression and Depressive Symptoms in Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: A Scoping Review.The Journal of head trauma rehabilitationChildren with TBI report more depressive symptoms than peers, but rates vary widely and evidence does not confirm higher clinical depression diagnoses. Symptoms often persist beyond the acute phase, suggesting a need for ongoing mental health monitoring rather than assuming they resolve with physical recovery.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2018Disparities in Health Care Utilization of Adults With Traumatic Brain Injuries Are Related to Insurance, Race, and Ethnicity: A Systematic Review.The Journal of head trauma rehabilitationLack of insurance consistently reduced use of hospital and rehabilitation services for adults with traumatic brain injury. Racial disparities in service use were inconsistent and often disappeared after adjusting for insurance status.
• PTOTSystematic Review2018Postacute Care Setting, Facility Characteristics, and Poststroke Outcomes: A Systematic Review.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationStroke patients rehabilitated in inpatient rehabilitation facilities were associated with lower mortality and often better community discharge than those in skilled nursing facilities, but functional gains were inconsistent and costs were higher.
• OTCase Series2018The influences of client-centered therapy on the level of performance, the level of satisfaction of activity of daily living, and the quality of life of the chronic stroke patients.Journal of physical therapy scienceTwo chronic stroke patients had improved COPM performance and satisfaction and higher SS-QOL after 4 weeks of client-centered occupational therapy. With only two participants and no control group, this cannot show the therapy caused the improvement.
• PTOTSLPCase Series2018High-Intensity Variable Stepping Training in Patients With Motor Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury: A Case Series.Journal of neurologic physical therapy : JNPTFour people with incomplete spinal cord injury walked faster and farther after intensive stepping training. The programme was safe and feasible, but gains vanished within a year. The severe impairments of three participants likely limited how much they could improve.
• PTOTCase-Control2018Effects of anterior weight-shifting methods on sitting balance in wheelchair-dependent patients with spinal cord injury.Journal of physical therapy scienceWheelchair users with spinal cord injury reached further forward and moved their center of pressure more when extending arms than crossing them. Adding a ball changed little for them, unlike healthy adults. Arm position matters more than holding an object for sitting balance.
• PTOTOther2017Adaptive hybrid robotic system for rehabilitation of reaching movement after a brain injury: a usability study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationTracking performance improved during assisted reaching sessions with a hybrid exoskeleton and electrical stimulation in brain injury patients, and it was higher with stimulation than without. Satisfaction was high. This supports usability, not functional recovery.
• PTOTCase Series2017Cognitive functioning over 2 years after intracerebral hemorrhage in school-aged children.Developmental medicine and child neurologyMotor function improved after childhood intracerebral hemorrhage, and some reasoning skills reached average range, but working memory stayed low and processing speed lagged peers. Motor recovery may mask cognitive needs, so plan serial cognitive testing.
• PTOTOther2017Pattern of improvement in upper limb pointing task kinematics after a 3-month training program with robotic assistance in stroke.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationAfter 3 months of combined robot-assisted shoulder/elbow training and conventional occupational therapy, upper-limb scores and robot-measured reaching improved. Shoulder/elbow improved before wrist/hand; distance, velocity and smoothness improved before accuracy. The study cannot separate the two treatments.
• OTRCT2018Use of Mental Health Services by Adolescents After Traumatic Brain Injury: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitationAfter moderate to severe TBI, mental health service use stayed low and stable. The online family problem-solving program with counselor support did not change use compared with online TBI resources, and less than half of impaired adolescents received services.
• PTOTPilot2017A Home-Based Telerehabilitation Program for Patients With Stroke.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairPatients completed nearly all assigned home telerehabilitation days, and arm Fugl-Meyer scores increased, but this was a small uncontrolled pilot that also included daily L-Dopa or placebo.
• PTOTSLPRCT2017Effects of Training Intensity on Locomotor Performance in Individuals With Chronic Spinal Cord Injury: A Randomized Crossover Study.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairHigh-intensity stepping training improved peak treadmill speed and fastest walking speed more than low-intensity training in chronic spinal cord injury. Changes in the standard six-minute walk test did not significantly differ between the two intensities.
• PTOTSLPPilot2018The feasibility of an acute high-intensity exercise bout to promote locomotor learning after stroke.Topics in stroke rehabilitationA five-minute high-intensity exercise session before gait practice is feasible for people with chronic stroke. Both treadmill and seated arm-leg cycling raised lactate levels without causing fatigue or interfering with subsequent practice, though the seated ergometer allowed longer time at target intensity.
• PTOTOther2017Effects of virtual reality intervention on upper limb motor function and activity of daily living in patients with lesions in different regions of the brain.Journal of physical therapy scienceAfter 4 weeks of VR games, upper-limb and daily-living scores were higher in 14 people with hemiplegic stroke. With no control group, these gains cannot be proven to be from VR.
• OTCohort2017Do Children Who Sustain Traumatic Brain Injury in Early Childhood Need and Receive Academic Services 7 Years After Injury?Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPYears after preschool TBI, many children with potential need for school services were not receiving them. Severe TBI had the highest need, but moderate TBI showed high unmet need, and behavior or executive concerns were less likely to trigger services than IQ or achievement scores.
• PTOTOther2017A composite robotic-based measure of upper limb proprioception.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationA robotic test identifies proprioceptive impairment in over 60% of stroke patients, detecting more cases than standard clinical exams. This composite score offers a precise, objective measure for tracking recovery and evaluating rehabilitation treatments.
• PTOTNarrative Review2017Motor system plasticity after unilateral injury in the developing brain.Developmental medicine and child neurologyEarly skilled movement training after unilateral brain injury may shape motor circuits in animal models. The review does not show it improves function in children.
• PTOTCohort2017Longitudinal Structural and Functional Differences Between Proportional and Poor Motor Recovery After Stroke.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairStroke patients with poor motor recovery had more corticospinal tract damage and later white-matter loss. Those with proportional recovery had preserved tracts and stronger resting brain synchrony in premotor networks. This may guide prognosis, not treatment choice.
• PTOTPilot2017Effects of somatosensory electrical stimulation on motor function and cortical oscillations.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationAfter one 2-hour sensory nerve electrical stimulation session, eight people with chronic acquired brain injury moved their fingers more independently and completed hand tasks faster. The pilot had no control group, so this cannot show the treatment works.
• PTOTCohort2017Relationship between psychophysiological factors and prognosis for activities of daily living in patients with stroke in a recovery rehabilitation unit: a preliminary study.Journal of physical therapy scienceAt admission, worse motor paralysis and higher depression scores were associated with poorer daily living function 2 months later in 13 stroke patients in a rehabilitation unit. This does not show that treating these problems improves daily living.
• PTOTRCT2017Effect of EMG-triggered neuromuscular electrical stimulation with bilateral arm training on hemiplegic shoulder pain and arm function after stroke: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationPain at rest did not differ between groups, but EMG-triggered NMES plus bilateral arm training reduced pain during shoulder movement and worst pain more than TENS plus the same training, with benefit still seen at follow-up.
• PTOTOther2017The effect of fluidotherapy on hand dexterity and activities of daily living in patients with edema on stroke.Journal of physical therapy scienceThree weeks of fluidotherapy significantly reduced hand edema in stroke patients and improved daily living independence, but did not significantly improve hand dexterity. The study had no control group, so natural recovery cannot be ruled out.
• PTOTOther2017Mapping upper-limb motor performance after stroke - a novel method with utility for individualized motor training.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationA robot-based reaching map identified individual upper-limb impairment patterns after chronic stroke and was used to select training movements. In two adults, no controlled outcome tested whether this improves function.
• PTOTOther2017A multisession evaluation of an adaptive competitive arm rehabilitation game.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationFor people with arm impairment playing a competitive arm game at home with a friend or relative, competition felt more enjoyable and produced more arm movement than playing alone. At a clinic, competing against another patient showed no such advantage.
• OTOther2017Cognition among community-dwelling individuals with spinal cord injury.Rehabilitation psychologyCommunity-dwelling adults with spinal cord injury scored lower than matched controls on fluid cognition, especially speed and executive tasks. Crystallized cognition was similar.
• OTSLPCase-Control2017Uncorrected versus demographically-corrected scores on the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery in persons with traumatic brain injury and stroke.Rehabilitation psychologyFor therapists interpreting NIH Toolbox cognition scores after TBI or stroke, corrected scores make acquired cognitive problems easier to see. They reduce the influence of age, education, sex and race, and better separate severe TBI from milder TBI.
• OTOther2017Construct validity of the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery in individuals with stroke.Rehabilitation psychologyThe NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery tracked stroke severity and matched other cognitive tests. Low timed-test scores may reflect hand movement speed, not only thinking, so check motor status before assuming cognitive impairment.
• PTOTRCT2018Functional Reach, Depression Scores, and Number of Medications Are Associated With Number of Falls in People With Chronic Stroke.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitationIn people with chronic stroke, more medications and higher depression scores predicted more falls. Functional reach distance also predicted falls, with a cutoff of 18.15 cm for recurrent falls. Other common tests like Berg Balance and Timed Up and Go did not distinguish fallers.
• OTOther2017Motor-free composites from the National Institutes of Health Toolbox Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB) for people with disabilities.Rehabilitation psychologyFor spinal cord injury patients with motor impairment, motor-free NIH Toolbox scores were in the normal range, while standard motor-dependent scores were below average. They still omit executive function.
• OTOther2017NIH toolbox cognition tests following traumatic brain injury: Frequency of low scores.Rehabilitation psychologyAfter TBI, one low NIH Toolbox cognition score is common even without TBI. Clinicians should look at several low scores together and compare them with estimated premorbid ability before calling cognitive impairment.
• PTOTCohort2017Relation of depressive symptoms to outcome of CI movement therapy after stroke.Rehabilitation psychologyDepressive symptoms did not stop stroke patients from improving arm use after Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy. Patients with clinically significant depression improved just as much as those without. Depression scores also dropped slightly, but the change was too small to be clinically meaningful.
• OTOther2017Test accommodations for individuals with neurological conditions completing the NIH Toolbox-Cognition Battery: An evaluation of frequency and appropriateness.Rehabilitation psychologyMost people with SCI, TBI, or stroke completed the NIH Toolbox-Cognition Battery without changes, but among those given accommodations, many changed the test in ways that could invalidate scores.
• PTOTCohort2018Prediction of falling risk after discharge in ambulatory stroke or history of fracture patients using Balance Evaluation Systems Test (BESTest).Journal of physical therapy scienceIn ambulatory stroke patients, low scores on the BESTest sections for Anticipatory Postural Adjustments and Sensory Orientation were significantly associated with falls within six months. These two specific balance components may help identify high-risk patients who appear stable enough for discharge.
• PTOTSLPCohort2018Effects of Age and Sex on Hospital Readmission in Traumatic Brain Injury.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationOlder adults with traumatic brain injury face higher hospital readmission risk than younger adults. However, younger adults readmit fastest, with the highest rate in the first week after discharge. Readmission reasons also shift by age, moving from mental health and injury issues in younger groups to circulatory and respiratory problems in older groups.
• PTOTPilot2018Upper limb robotic rehabilitation for chronic stroke survivors: a single-group preliminary study.Journal of physical therapy scienceAfter six weeks of assist-as-needed arm robot training, 21 high-functioning chronic stroke survivors had higher upper limb scores and faster reaching. No control group was used, so the robot alone cannot be credited.
• PTOTCohort2018The JFK BIG study: the impact of LSVT BIG® on dual task walking and mobility in persons with Parkinson's disease.Journal of physical therapy scienceAfter LSVT BIG, 93 people with Parkinson’s disease had faster TUG times, including while reciting days backward. The cup-carrying dual-task penalty did not show a clear improvement. No control group was used.
• PTOTSLPCohort2018Acute Phase Predictors of 6-Month Functional Outcome in Italian Stroke Patients Eligible for In-Hospital Rehabilitation.American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitationGetting stroke patients sitting out of bed within 48 hours predicted better independence at six months. However, early formal rehab starting within 72 hours was linked to worse outcomes, suggesting mobilization timing matters more than immediate intensive therapy.
• OTSLPRCT2018Computer-assisted cognitive rehabilitation in persons with multiple sclerosis: Results of a multi-site randomized controlled trial with six month follow-up.Disability and health journalMixed results: both groups improved over 6 months, and the group and computer program had some advantages on selected cognitive and self-report tests, but the paper reports separate outcomes rather than one overall primary-outcome result.
• PTOTRCT2018Accelerating Stroke Recovery: Body Structures and Functions, Activities, Participation, and Quality of Life Outcomes From a Large Rehabilitation Trial.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairThe trial's main motor outcome showed no group difference at 1 year. In secondary outcomes, ASAP produced faster early gains in confidence, function, participation and quality of life; usual care caught up by 12 months.
• PTOTSLPPilot2018Improved lower extremity pedaling mechanics in individuals with stroke under maximal workloads.Topics in stroke rehabilitationPedaling symmetry and smoothness improved at maximal workloads, but upstroke control worsened. The paretic leg generated more force overall, yet the non-paretic leg gained more, increasing asymmetry during the upstroke. High-intensity cycling recruits more motor units but may expose timing deficits.
• PTOTOther2018Neural predictors of gait stability when walking freely in the real-world.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationBrain activity in the left posterior parietal cortex predicted gait stability in healthy young adults walking freely outdoors. Different walking tasks engaged different brain frequency bands, suggesting this area monitors movement planning during real-world dual-tasking.
• PTOTRCT2018Pilot testing of the spring operated wearable enhancer for arm rehabilitation (SpringWear).Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationSpringWear did not consistently help 13 chronic stroke patients complete functional tasks, although it increased maximum shoulder flexion, elbow extension and forearm rotation, and increased forward reach workspace by 19%.
• PTOTRCT2018The effects of gait training using powered lower limb exoskeleton robot on individuals with complete spinal cord injury.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationTwo men with complete spinal cord injury walked faster and reported less effort using a new powered exoskeleton than with a traditional knee-ankle-foot orthosis. They also put the device on and took it off more quickly. No falls or skin injuries occurred.
• OTPilot2018Development of a novel positive psychology-based intervention for couples post-stroke.Rehabilitation psychologyAn 8-week positive psychology program for stroke survivors and partners was feasible and acceptable: 10 of 11 couples completed, and couples exceeded the minimum weekly activity requirement. It did not test whether the program improves mood or function.
• PTOTSLPOther2018Why do stroke survivors not receive recommended amounts of active therapy? Findings from the ReAcT study, a mixed-methods case-study evaluation in eight stroke units.Clinical rehabilitationTherapists spent between 1.2 and 6.5 hours per week on meetings and paperwork rather than direct patient care. In units with the highest staffing levels, therapy minutes were higher, but even these units struggled to meet guidelines. Administrative burden was the primary barrier to delivering recommended therapy.
• PTOTOther2018Quantification of upper limb position sense using an exoskeleton and a virtual reality display.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationA robot and virtual arm let 30 healthy adults identify the smallest elbow angle differences of 7.0 and 5.9 degrees. Repeated scores were fair to good, but shifted slightly after one week, and only healthy adults were tested.
• OTSurvey2018Association of posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury with aggressive driving in Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans.Rehabilitation psychologyVeterans with PTSD, with or without TBI, were more likely to say they needed to cut down on aggressive driving. Veterans with TBI alone were not. Ask about aggressive driving in PTSD care.
• PTOTOther2018The test-retest reliability and minimal detectable change of the short-form Barthel Index (5 items) and its associations with chronic stroke-specific impairments.Journal of physical therapy scienceIn 24 chronic stroke patients, the 5-item Barthel Index was stable across tests a week apart and tracked postural control and motor function. A 7.84-point change is the smallest score change unlikely to be random measurement error.
• PTOTSLPQualitative2018What influences decisions about ongoing stroke rehabilitation for patients with pre-existing dementia or cognitive impairment: a qualitative study?Clinical rehabilitationStroke clinicians said dementia knowledge, family history, gut instinct and service limits drove decisions. Many expected pre-existing dementia to mean poor rehab potential, so patients needing more time were deprioritised or moved to compensatory care.