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.

3,875 PAPERS · PAGE 25 OF 78 · NEWEST FIRST

• PTOTCohort2020Technology-aided assessment of functionally relevant sensorimotor impairments in arm and hand of post-stroke individuals.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationIn chronic stroke survivors with mild to moderate deficits, a virtual peg task captured grip force and movement patterns. Three metrics were reliable enough for tracking recovery over time, and performance correlated with standard hand dexterity tests.
• PTCase Series2021Evaluation of a passive pediatric leg exoskeleton during gait.Prosthetics and orthotics internationalFour children walked in a passive leg exoskeleton. Two with hemiparesis showed improved joint symmetry and variable speed changes, while two typically developing children were largely unaffected. The small sample size means this device is not yet proven to help.
• PTOther2021An investigation of the measurement properties of the de Morton Mobility Index for measuring mobility capacity in hospital patients with Parkinson's disease.Clinical rehabilitationThe DEMMI can measure mobility across the full range in hospital patients with Parkinson's disease. It is quick, safe and consistent between raters, but tracking one patient's change over time with different therapists is less reliable.
• PTOTRCT2021Sustained efficacy of incobotulinumtoxina repeated injections for upper-limb post-stroke spasticity: A post hoc analysis.Journal of rehabilitation medicineRepeated incobotulinumtoxinA injections for upper-limb post-stroke spasticity reduced muscle tone and caregiver burden more than placebo. Benefits in tone and disability increased with each injection cycle up to 48 weeks, suggesting a cumulative effect rather than a single-shot fix.
• PTOTRCT2020Relationships between accelerometry and general compensatory movements of the upper limb after stroke.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationAccelerometer data from daily life, but not clinic visits, reflects movement quality. People who compensated more during tasks used their non-paretic arm more and showed less variability at home. Clinic training masks these patterns, so daily wearables capture compensations that in-clinic tests miss.
• PTOTRCT2021Effects of Lower Thoracic Spinal Cord Stimulation on Bowel Management in Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationBowel routines dropped from 118 minutes to 18 minutes in five men with cervical spinal cord injury using implanted spinal cord stimulation. Mechanical methods and medications became less necessary. This is a tiny case series, so it proves feasibility, not efficacy.
• PTCase-Control2020Biomechanical control of paretic lower limb during imposed weight transfer in individuals post-stroke.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationWhen the ground suddenly dropped under one foot, people with stroke loaded the paretic leg less effectively than controls. They showed reduced ankle and knee flexion, delayed joint coordination, and took longer to stabilize balance. These biomechanical deficits correlated with poorer clinical balance and mobility scores.
• PTOther2020The Impact of Reducing the Number of Wearable Devices on Measuring Gait in Parkinson Disease: Noninterventional Exploratory Study.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesA single lower-back accelerometer matched a six-device system for gait speed and stride time in Parkinson disease and predicted clinician gait scores nearly as well as three devices. It did not reliably capture asymmetry or variability, and six devices were more accurate.
• PTRCT2020Effects of selectively assisting impaired subtasks of walking in chronic stroke survivors.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationAssisting specific walking subtasks with a robot improved those subtasks but did not fix other parts of the gait pattern. Foot clearance assistance increased step length, but stability and weight shift assistance had little effect. Subtasks can likely be tuned simultaneously in mildly impaired patients.
• PTOTOther2020Postural control strategy after incomplete spinal cord injury: effect of sensory inputs on trunk-leg movement coordination.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationPeople with incomplete spinal cord injury struggle to shift from an ankle to a hip balance strategy when sway increases or surfaces soften. Trunk-leg coherence measured by two sensors tracked this reliably, unlike standard balance measures.
• PTOTNarrative Review2020These legs were made for propulsion: advancing the diagnosis and treatment of post-stroke propulsion deficits.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationPost-stroke walking deficits stem from poor propulsion, not just weakness. Current rigid braces can block push-off. Emerging therapies like functional electrical stimulation and soft exosuits aim to restore true propulsion, but these remain experimental and require rigorous testing before clinical adoption.
• PTOTRCT2020Immersive Virtual Environments and Wearable Haptic Devices in rehabilitation of children with neuromotor impairments: a single-blind randomized controlled crossover pilot study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationIn children with cerebral palsy or developmental dyspraxia, immersive virtual reality with haptic feedback did not show better hand-function test results than conventional therapy. Some movement smoothness measures favoured virtual reality, but the trial was very small.
• PTOTSLPOther2021Stroke impairment categories: A new way to classify the effects of stroke based on stroke-related impairments.Clinical rehabilitationStroke patients fall into seven distinct impairment groups. These groups predict different therapy needs and outcomes. Motor-Cognitive-Sensory strokes are most common. Loss of Consciousness strokes have highest mortality. Clinicians can use these categories to benchmark expected therapy doses and discharge destinations.
• PTOTOther2020Improving Accelerometry-Based Measurement of Functional Use of the Upper Extremity After Stroke: Machine Learning Versus Counts Threshold Method.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairMachine learning models accurately measured functional arm use in stroke survivors, closely matching video evidence. The standard counts threshold method failed, grossly overestimating functional use by including nonfunctional movements like arm swing. This suggests current accelerometry metrics may be misleading for assessing real-world recovery.
• PTRCT2020Wearable hip-assist robot modulates cortical activation during gait in stroke patients: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationWearing a hip-assist robot during treadmill walking shifted brain activity in stroke survivors. It increased sensorimotor activation early on and reduced it later, while boosting prefrontal engagement. This suggests the device may help automate gait, but the study measured brain signals, not walking ability.
• PTOTSLPRCT2020'Recoupling' the attentional and motor control of preparatory postural adjustments to overcome freezing of gait in Parkinson's.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationIn people with Parkinson's, freezing attempts failed when the sideways weight shift was too small. Training a specific verbal or analogy cue to increase this shift helped nearly all participants initiate a step successfully, with no difference between the two cue types.
• PTOTCohort2020Executive Control of Walking in People With Parkinson's Disease With Freezing of Gait.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairPeople with Parkinson's who report freezing of gait showed higher prefrontal brain activity while walking than those without freezing. This suggests their brains work harder to control movement. However, their actual walking speed and step variability looked the same as non-freezers once disease severity was accounted for.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2020Virtual reality and non-invasive brain stimulation for rehabilitation applications: a systematic review.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationCombining virtual reality with brain stimulation showed promise for stroke, pain, and PTSD in small trials, but results were mixed and no study proved it works better than either alone. Single-session treatments mostly failed, so this is not yet a standard care option.
• PTOTCohort2021Predictive Value of Midsagittal Tissue Bridges on Functional Recovery After Spinal Cord Injury.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairWider ventral and dorsal tissue bridges seen on 1-month MRI were associated with better neurological grade and functional recovery at 12 months after spinal cord injury. This helps set prognosis, not a treatment target.
• PTOTRCT2021Telerehabilitation After Stroke Using Readily Available Technology: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairACTIV did not significantly improve physical function at 6 months after stroke. Participation and self-rated health favoured ACTIV, and those receiving at least half the intervention showed physical gains, but these were not sustained.
• PTRCT2020Validity and sensitivity of instrumented postural and gait assessment using low-cost devices in Parkinson's disease.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationLow-cost balance and Kinect camera tests found more sway in Parkinson's and tracked clinical walking scores, but early-stage patients looked better than controls. Use them as complements, not replacements.
• PTOTOther2020Multiple processes independently predict motor learning.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationIn healthy young adults, improvements in hitting targets were independently predicted by faster hand movements, more efficient visual search, and looser eye-hand coupling. Avoiding distractors was predicted only by looser eye-hand coupling. This shows motor learning involves multiple distinct processes.
• PTOTRCT2020Effects of virtual reality training on occupational performance and self-efficacy of patients with stroke: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationAdding 3 weeks of virtual reality training to standard care improved self-efficacy and daily living activities in stroke survivors, but did not improve occupational performance or upper limb function more than standard care alone.
• PTMeta-Analysis2021Effectiveness of exercise interventions for children with cerebral palsy: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Journal of rehabilitation medicineExercise interventions for children with cerebral palsy improved gait speed and muscle strength, but did not significantly improve gross motor function. The positive findings for speed and strength were unstable, disappearing when certain trials were excluded from the analysis.
• PTCohort2021The optimal timing of supporting patients in health-related behavior change after TIA or ischemic stroke: a prospective cohort study to determinants of health-related intention to change over time.International journal of rehabilitation research. Internationale Zeitschrift fur Rehabilitationsforschung. Revue internationale de recherches de readaptationFear after stroke or TIA decreased by 3 months, while confidence to change health behavior stayed high. For physical therapists, early activity conversations may build on confidence rather than fear.
• PTOTCase-Control2021Mu Rhythm during Standing and Walking Is Altered in Children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy Compared to Children with Typical Development.Developmental neurorehabilitationChildren with unilateral CP showed lower peak brainwave frequencies and altered connectivity during standing compared to typically developing peers. However, brain activity changes during walking were similar between groups. These EEG measures may help track motor development, but need larger studies.
• PTOTRCT2020Commercial head-mounted display virtual reality for upper extremity rehabilitation in chronic stroke: a single-case design study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationSeven people with chronic stroke played commercial VR games for ten weeks. Most showed improved arm function on clinical tests. The games required no button pressing, allowing those with severe weakness to participate using straps. This is a small pilot, not proof of efficacy.
• PTOTPilot2021Effect of Different Forms of Activity-Based Recovery Training on Bladder, Bowel, and Sexual Function After Spinal Cord Injury.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationStand training did not improve bladder, bowel, or sexual function after spinal cord injury. Arm crank exercise lowered bladder pressure and improved bladder compliance, but bowel and sexual function scores did not change.
• PTOTRCT2020Effects of robot viscous forces on arm movements in chronic stroke survivors: a randomized crossover study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationIn 13 chronic stroke survivors, only a robot force that assisted movement made reaching faster while it was on. Speed did not stay faster after it stopped, and resisting or rewarding speed did not increase speed.
• PTCohort2020Dynamic body-weight support to boost rehabilitation outcomes in patients with non-traumatic spinal cord injury: an observational study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationThe main daily-function improvement scores did not show a clear difference once the study's stricter comparison rule was applied. One bowel and bladder area favored dynamic body-weight support.
• PTOTRCT2020Development of the Home based Virtual Rehabilitation System (HoVRS) to remotely deliver an intense and customized upper extremity training.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationFifteen people with chronic stroke used a home virtual reality system for three months. Their upper limb function scores improved by an average of 5.2 points, exceeding the clinically important difference. The system was feasible, with participants averaging 13.5 hours of use and few technical issues.
• PTCohort2021Prevalence of discomplete sensorimotor spinal cord injury as evidenced by neurophysiological methods: A cross-sectional study.Journal of rehabilitation medicineSome people with clinically complete spinal cord injury had neurophysiological signs of possible remaining sensorimotor connections. The estimate was 17 to 52 percent of 23, depending on criteria. This is not evidence that treatment works.
• PTOTCase Report2020Portable neuromodulation induces neuroplasticity to re-activate motor function recovery from brain injury: a high-density MEG case study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationA man with severe brain injury and a long-standing walking plateau stood for 20 minutes with minimal assistance after 14 weeks of physiotherapy plus tongue stimulation. His sitting balance scores improved substantially. This is a single case, so it does not prove the device works.
• PTOTSLPOther2020Validation of ICD-10-CM surveillance codes for traumatic brain injury inpatient hospitalizations.Brain injuryInpatient records coded for skull fractures alone often do not represent true traumatic brain injury, with a positive predictive value of 15.8%. Records coded for intracranial injury were far more accurate, confirming TBI in 96.9% of cases when listed as the primary diagnosis.
• PTOTCohort2021Impact of rehabilitation start time on functional outcomes after stroke.Journal of rehabilitation medicineStarting stroke rehabilitation on day 1 or 2 was linked to better discharge outcomes than starting later. For haemorrhagic stroke specifically, starting on day 1 was worse than day 2. This is an observational association, not proof that timing causes the difference.
• PTOTRCT2021Effect of combined home-based, overground robotic-assisted gait training and usual physiotherapy on clinical functional outcomes in people with chronic stroke: A randomized controlled trial.Clinical rehabilitationAdding a home-based robotic leg orthosis to usual physiotherapy improved walking distance and balance in chronic stroke survivors. These gains persisted 12 weeks after the device was removed. The robotic device alone cannot be credited as the sole cause, as all participants also received standard care.
• PTRCT2020Multimodal Balance Training Supported by Rhythmic Auditory Stimuli in Parkinson Disease: Effects in Freezers and Nonfreezers.Physical therapyAdding metronome beats to balance and gait training in Parkinson disease gave larger balance gains than training without beats right after training in patients with and without freezing. At 6 months, the metronome group still had balance improvements compared with baseline.
• PTOther2021Psychometric evaluation of a newly developed measure of emotionalism after stroke (TEARS-Q).Clinical rehabilitationIn 224 acute stroke survivors without aphasia, a score of 2 or more on an eight-item self-report questionnaire for crying after stroke best predicted tearful emotionalism, while 0 or 1 predicted none.
• PTOTSLPCohort2021Characterizing health care utilization following hospitalization for a traumatic brain injury: a retrospective cohort study.Brain injuryOne year after hospitalization for traumatic brain injury, 26% to 30% of patients were superutilizers of emergency, inpatient, or outpatient care. These patients accounted for 60% to 81% of all visits in those settings. Prior healthcare use and comorbidities strongly predicted this high utilization.
• PTOTRCT2020Intensive upper extremity training improved whole body movement control for children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy.Gait & postureHABIT improved tray-carrying symmetry but not walking. CIMT improved walking speed and stride length but not tray symmetry. Both improved toe clearance. Neither approach fixed both hand and leg problems, so choose the intervention based on the specific deficit you want to treat.
• PTOther2020Inertial sensor-based gait parameters reflect patient-reported fatigue in multiple sclerosis.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationIn 49 people with MS, changes in gait measured by foot sensors during a six-minute walk predicted perceived fatigue within one Borg point. This supports using wearable sensors to track fatigue in real-world walking, though the study did not test whether this helps patient care.
• PTOTSLPOther2021Differential effects of deployment and nondeployment mild TBI on neuropsychological outcomes.Rehabilitation psychologyVeterans with mild TBI during deployment showed lower attention and processing speed than those with non-deployment TBI. However, all group scores remained in the average range. Most veterans with deployment TBI had intact cognition, though PTSD drove stronger behavioral health symptoms.
• PTOTSLPOther2021Effect of a comprehensive eRehabilitation intervention alongside conventional stroke rehabilitation on disability and health-related quality of life: A pre-post comparison.Journal of rehabilitation medicineAdding eRehabilitation to standard stroke care showed no benefit in the first 3 months. Between 3 and 6 months, the intervention group had slightly better communication and strength scores than controls, but these changes were too small to be clinically meaningful.
• PTOTOther2021Sensor-based categorization of upper limb performance in daily life of persons with and without neurological upper limb deficits.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesWrist accelerometer data from 211 adults grouped daily upper-limb use into 5 categories, from Minimal Activity/Rare Integration to High Activity/Full Integration. People with stroke appeared in all categories, while clinic arm capacity scores overlapped widely across them.
• PTOther2020Oxygen cost of over-ground walking in persons with mild-to-moderate Parkinson's disease.Gait & posturePeople with mild-to-moderate Parkinson's disease used more oxygen for each metre walked than matched controls, even though walking speed and oxygen use during steady walking were similar. Shorter stride length was linked to this higher oxygen cost.
• PTOTCohort2020Day-to-Day Variability of Walking Performance Measures in Individuals Poststroke and Individuals With Parkinson Disease.Journal of neurologic physical therapy : JNPTPeople who walk more each day have larger swings in their step counts from one day to the next. For someone averaging 5,000 steps, daily variation can exceed 2,300 steps. Clinicians need multiple days of data to distinguish real improvement from normal fluctuation.
• PTOTOther2020Slip-Fall Predictors in Community-Dwelling, Ambulatory Stroke Survivors: A Cross-sectional Study.Journal of neurologic physical therapy : JNPTIn community-dwelling stroke survivors, a combination of dynamic gait stability, Timed Up and Go time, and hip extensor strength predicted who would fall when a slip was simulated. A 13-second TUG time and hip extensor strength below 106 Nm were key cutoffs.
• PTCase Series2021Transcutaneous Electrical Spinal Cord Stimulation to Promote Recovery in Chronic Spinal Cord Injury.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesSeven people with chronic spinal cord injury who had plateaued after intensive outpatient therapy completed training with electrical spinal cord stimulation without serious adverse events. Many showed changes in strength, sensation, or walking tests, but it was a small case series.
• PTOTOther2021Measuring freezing of gait during daily-life: an open-source, wearable sensors approach.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationA wearable sensor algorithm detects freezing of gait in Parkinson's disease with good accuracy for episodes lasting two seconds or more, but it is unreliable for very brief episodes. In daily life, people who reported freezing spent more time freezing and turned less completely than those who did not.
• PTOTOther2020Construct Validity of a Task-Oriented Bimanual and Unimanual Strength Measurement in Children With Unilateral Cerebral Palsy.Physical therapyA new measure of task-oriented strength in children with unilateral cerebral palsy correlates moderately with grip strength but poorly with functional skill scores. It captures strength during lifting tasks, not general manual dexterity or parent-reported performance, so it adds distinct information rather than replacing existing assessments.