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 60 OF 78 · NEWEST FIRST

• PTOTSLPCohort2025Impact of Social Disadvantage on Medical and Functional Severity in Children With Cerebral Palsy.Child: care, health and developmentChildren with cerebral palsy in poorer neighbourhoods or with marginalized race or Hispanic ethnicity were more likely to have greater motor difficulties. Minority race was linked to more severe language impairment. When income and ethnicity were considered together, race still linked to gross motor impairment.
• PTOTNarrative Review2025Inducing asymmetric gait in healthy walkers: a review.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesResearchers reviewed ways to make healthy walkers limp. Leg length differences and unilateral weights worked best. Sensory tricks like vibration or sound were inconsistent. These methods help test devices before recruiting patients.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Tongue Pressure and Grip Strength as Indicators of Persistent Dysphagia After Acute Stroke.DysphagiaLow tongue pressure and grip strength measured within 48 hours of acute stroke admission independently predicted dysphagia persisting to discharge. Skeletal muscle mass and stroke severity (NIHSS) did not. Early bedside measures of oral and general strength may help flag patients needing longer-term feeding or rehab planning.
• PTOTSLPOther2025Abnormal activity in the brainstem affects gait in a neuromusculoskeletal model.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationComputer simulations suggest that different types of freezing of gait may stem from abnormal activity in two specific brainstem nuclei. This offers a theoretical model for why some patients respond to cues while others need medication, but it is not yet clinical evidence.
• PTOTSystematic Review2025Exploring balance control mechanisms in people with multiple sclerosis in virtual reality environment: a systematic review.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationVirtual reality balance training for people with MS shows mixed results compared to standard therapy. While patients tolerated the technology well with minimal side effects, the evidence is too heterogeneous to confirm that VR is superior to traditional balance exercises for improving stability.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2025Interventions in subacute paediatric inpatient neurorehabilitation: an umbrella review.Journal of rehabilitation medicineNo systematic reviews met criteria for subacute paediatric inpatient neurorehabilitation interventions. The search found no high-quality evidence for this specific setting and phase. Clinicians should expect to rely on expert opinion and adult or outpatient data rather than robust trial evidence for these patients.
• PTOTOther2024Preventing deformities in paediatric cerebral palsy in poorly-resourced areas: A scoping review.The South African journal of physiotherapyWeak, conflicting evidence exists for preventing hip displacement, contractures and scoliosis in severe cerebral palsy. Supported standing, seating and sustained stretching showed some benefit in studies, but no tested home programmes for low-resource settings.
• PTOTSurvey2025Sexual Function and Quality of Life in Individuals Post Stroke.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapyMost stroke survivors in this South African study had sexual dysfunction, but it did not significantly lower their overall quality of life scores. Two-thirds did not know healthcare professionals could help, suggesting a major gap in patient education and support.
• PTOTCase Report2025Case Report: Robot-assisted gait training with the wearable cyborg hybrid assistive limb 2S size in three children with cerebral palsy.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesThree children with cerebral palsy showed improved hip and knee extension angles and altered muscle activity after robot-assisted gait training. The wearable HAL device appeared to facilitate these biomechanical changes, but this small case series cannot prove the treatment works or compare it to standard therapy.
• PTOTRCT2025Hands-free Atalante exoskeleton in post-stroke gait and balance rehabilitation: a safety study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationHands-free exoskeleton training was safe for stroke patients unable to walk. Skin cuts and knee pain were minor and rare. Patients improved walking speed and balance over five sessions, but without a control group, this cannot prove the device caused the change.
• PTPilot2025Proximal Muscle Resistance Training to Improve Walking in People With Multiple Sclerosis: A Pilot Study.Journal of neurologic physical therapy : JNPTFor people with MS who could walk without an assistive device, a proximal strengthening program using in-person, virtual, and home exercise was feasible and acceptable. Walking endurance and strength improved, but daily steps did not.
• PTOTCohort2025Acute serum androgen levels and post-rehabilitation functioning in spinal cord injury: findings from SwiSCI.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineIn men with new spinal cord injuries, lower baseline free testosterone was linked to slower functional recovery and lower discharge scores. These associations lost significance after correcting for multiple tests, and results for women were null due to small numbers.
• PTOTCohort2024Brain regions associated with balance function assessed by the Berg Balance Scale in post-stroke patients.Journal of physical therapy scienceBalance scores in post-stroke patients correlated with damage in three brain tracts: the corticospinal, cingulum, and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus. This suggests balance recovery depends on both motor pathways and association fibers, not just limb strength.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2025Is physical therapy recommended for people with parkinson's disease treated with subthalamic deep brain stimulation? a delphi consensus study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationExperts recommend conventional physical therapy for Parkinson's patients with deep brain stimulation, but the underlying evidence is weak. No randomized trials exist, so this is expert opinion, not proof of effectiveness. Do not treat it as a clinical guideline.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2025Involving people with lived experience when setting cerebral palsy research priorities: A scoping review.Developmental medicine and child neurologyResearch priorities for cerebral palsy are dominated by intervention questions, but current evidence comes from just five studies in high-income countries. People with CP were a minority of participants, and their direct involvement as research partners was inconsistent.
• PTOTSLPCohort2024Examination of evaluation indicators for spasticity in stroke patients using ultrasound imaging equipment.Journal of physical therapy scienceUltrasound measurement of muscle-tendon junction displacement correlated with spasticity severity in the arm and leg. The paretic side showed greater displacement than the non-paretic side. Other ultrasound indices did not track spasticity, suggesting displacement is a potential objective alternative to the subjective Ashworth scale.
• PTQualitative2025Experiences of participation in cardiorespiratory training among people with post-stroke fatigue: a qualitative study.Journal of rehabilitation medicinePeople with post-stroke fatigue found home-based, physiotherapist-supervised interval training safe and feasible. Supervision helped them push past fear of exertion. They reported needing less recovery time and feeling more confident in daily activities, though fatigue persisted.
• PTOTRCT2025Mirror therapy reduces excessive variability of motor network in stroke patients: a randomized controlled trial.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineAdding mirror visual feedback to conventional therapy improved upper-limb motor function more than conventional therapy alone in subacute stroke patients. MRI scans showed mirror therapy reduced excessive brain activity variability in the affected motor cortex, a change linked to clinical recovery.
• PTOTSLPOther2025Development and evaluation of Goal setting and Action Planning (G-AP) training to support person-centred rehabilitation practice.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesStaff felt confident using G-AP with individual patients after online training, but team-level rollout stalled due to time pressures and role changes. The resource is free, but this study measured staff opinions, not patient outcomes.
• PTOTOther2025Achieving precision assessment of functional clinical scores for upper extremity using IMU-Based wearable devices and deep learning methods.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationWearable sensors and AI matched therapist scores for arm function in stroke patients. The system predicted Fugl-Meyer scores with high accuracy and identified recovery stages reliably, offering a tool for objective monitoring.
• PTOTQualitative2025Resilience and adaptations-insights from Norwegian adolescents with pediatric-onset spinal cord injury.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesAdolescents with spinal cord injuries prioritized independence and social connection over physical recovery alone. They valued peers who treated them normally and schools that adapted activities rather than excusing them. They sought autonomy in daily choices, often preferring self-directed exercise to supervised therapy.
• PTOTSLPPilot2025A technology-enriched approach to increasing rehabilitation dose after stroke: Clinical feasibility study.Clinical rehabilitationSub-acute stroke in-patients attended supervised group technology sessions of 52 minutes on average, in addition to usual therapy. Recruitment and dropout met feasibility targets, and no serious adverse reactions were reported.
• PTOTNarrative Review2025Wearable sensors in paediatric neurology.Developmental medicine and child neurologyWearable sensors reliably track gait, activity, and physiological signs in children with neurological conditions, and one stride metric now guides Duchenne trials. Most other uses remain in feasibility testing. They supplement clinic assessments but do not yet replace them in routine care.
• PTQualitative2025Physiotherapists' User Acceptance of a Lower Limb Robotic Exoskeleton in Specialized Rehabilitation: Qualitative Exploratory Study.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesSeven physiotherapists described the exoskeleton as useful for specific patients but too time-consuming for routine use. They felt the setup and staffing demands outweighed the benefits, leading them to use it sparingly despite acknowledging its potential for neuroplasticity and safety.
• PTOTCohort2024Caregiver burden among informal caregivers of stroke survivors in Harare, Zimbabwe.The South African journal of physiotherapyCaregivers of stroke survivors reported higher strain when they were anxious, depressed, overwhelmed, or had adjusted work, and when survivors had poor physical, motor, or social outcomes. This reports associations, not proof that treatment reduces burden.
• PTOTRCT2025A clinical trial evaluating feasibility and acceptability of a brain-computer interface for telerehabilitation in patients with stroke.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationSeven people with chronic stroke could use a home brain-computer interface with electrical arm stimulation under remote supervision. They rated setup and use as easy by the end, and six had higher arm motor scores, but this was a feasibility pilot.
• PTOTCohort2025Examination of Proprioceptive Reliance During Backward Walking in Individuals With Multiple Sclerosis.Journal of neurologic physical therapy : JNPTBackward walking speed in people with MS depended more heavily on foot sensation than forward walking did. Those who had fallen recently had worse sensation and walked slower backward. This suggests backward walking is a sensitive test for sensory-driven balance issues.
• PTSystematic Review2024Red flags for potential serious pathologies in people with neck pain: a systematic review of clinical practice guidelines.Archives of physiotherapyOnly 12 of 29 neck pain guidelines recommended red flags for serious pathology, and most red flags were based on reasoning rather than diagnostic accuracy. Use the Canadian C-spine rule for post-traumatic fractures; otherwise treat red flags cautiously.
• PTOTSLPProtocol2025Implementing psychosocial guidelines into specialized spinal cord injury rehabilitation services to strengthen person-centred health care: protocol for a mixed methods study.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesNo results yet. This paper describes a plan to introduce updated psychosocial guidelines to spinal cord injury teams in Australia. It outlines how researchers will measure whether staff adopt the guidelines, but reports no data on whether this improves patient care.
• PTRCT2025A wearable ankle-assisted robot for improving gait function and pattern in stroke patients.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationStroke patients walked faster, with longer strides and better symmetry, while using a powered ankle exoskeleton compared with walking without it. The study did not separate the device’s weight from its powered assistance.
• PTOTSLPOther2025Brain Injury Sense of Self Scale: psychometric development of a new measure of strength of self-identity after traumatic brain injury.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineThe new BISOSS scale identifies three distinct areas of self-identity trouble after brain injury: personal, societal, and relational. It helps clinicians pinpoint exactly where a patient feels lost, rather than just noting general low self-esteem. This allows for targeted conversation and care planning.
• PTRCT2025Activity-based recovery training with spinal cord epidural stimulation improves standing performance in cervical spinal cord injury.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationPeople with chronic cervical SCI in a spinal stimulation program showed more unassisted knee and trunk standing time. The different training groups did not show a clear winner, and standing was not the trial's primary outcome.
• PTOther2025Development and evaluation of a non-invasive brain-spine interface using transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationA non-invasive brain-spine interface used EEG to time spinal cord stimulation with knee-extension intention above chance in unimpaired participants, but no spinal cord injury patients or rehabilitation outcomes were tested.
• PTOTRCT2025Transcranial direct current stimulation over the motor and premotor cortex with mirror therapy improves motor control, muscle function, and brain activity in chronic stroke: a double-blind randomized sham-controlled trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationCompared with sham, brain stimulation over the premotor area before mirror therapy improved paretic hand speed and smoothness and reduced spasticity. Stimulation over the motor cortex reduced trunk displacement. All groups also practiced functional tasks.
• PTOTOther2025Exoskeleton-guided passive movement elicits standardized EEG patterns for generalizable BCIs in stroke rehabilitation.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationExoskeleton-guided passive hand movement produced more consistent EEG patterns than voluntary movement in 10 stroke patients and 20 healthy people. Deep learning decoded passive movement across participants at 72.63% in stroke and 86.00% in healthy, but motor recovery was not tested.
• PTOTPilot2025Muscle-to-action mapping for intuitive training of muscle synergies in post-stroke upper-limb rehabilitation.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationEleven chronic stroke survivors trained to steer a force cursor to a target using a biomechanical model. This intuitive mapping reduced unintended force coupling and improved clinical motor scores after 18 sessions. The study confirms feasibility but lacks a control group.
• PTCase-Control2025Range of Motion and Muscle Stiffness Differences in Junior Tennis Players with and without a History of Shoulder Pain.International journal of sports physical therapyJunior tennis players with shoulder pain had less internal rotation in their dominant arm than those without pain. However, muscle stiffness was similar between groups. Clinicians should note that pain history is linked to range of motion deficits but not necessarily to changes in passive muscle stiffness.
• PTOTSystematic Review2025Are Assistive Technologies Effective in the Management of Contractures in People with Stroke? - A Cochrane Review Summary with Commentary.NeuroRehabilitationThere is insufficient evidence to support using assistive technologies like splints or electrical stimulation to manage contractures after stroke. The review found the evidence was too uncertain to determine if these devices improve range of motion, reduce pain, or cause adverse events.
• PTOther2025Discordance Between Balance Ability and Perception and Its Relation to Falls in Parkinson's Disease: A Replication Analysis.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairIn 171 people with Parkinson's disease, mismatch between Timed Up and Go balance ability and perceived confidence was associated with faller status over the previous 12 months.
• PTOTSystematic Review2025Assessment of cortical activity, functional connectivity, and neuroplasticity in cerebral palsy using functional near-infrared spectroscopy: A scoping review.Developmental medicine and child neurologyFunctional near-infrared spectroscopy is feasible for measuring brain activity in cerebral palsy, showing exaggerated motor cortex activation during tasks. However, small samples and a lack of reliability data mean these findings cannot yet guide clinical treatment decisions or track intervention progress.
• PTOTPilot2025The Czech Fugl-Meyer assessment for post-stroke sensorimotor function: translation and cross-cultural adaptation and validation.Journal of rehabilitation medicineThe Czech Fugl-Meyer Assessment showed sufficient agreement between two physiotherapists scoring the same patients. Minor wording changes fixed translation issues, but the small sample means it is not yet proven reliable for all stroke severities.
• PTOTSLPRCT2025Sleep Following a Stroke: Multimodal Evaluation of Sleep Health and Disruptions and Impact on Recovery During Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairSleep improved slightly during acute stroke rehab but remained poor, with 77% of nights disrupted by care tasks. Better sleep was not associated with greater functional recovery in this cohort. Prioritize reducing environmental noise and interruptions.
• PTOTRCT2025Tele-rehabilitation using transcranial direct current stimulation combined with exercise in people with spinal cord injury: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of rehabilitation medicineAdding active tDCS to home tele-exercise improved upper limb motor scores by 4.2 points at one month, meeting the threshold for clinical importance. Lower limb function, sensation, strength, spasticity, and independence showed no difference between groups.
• PTOther2025Gait speed-dependent modulation of paretic versus non-paretic propulsion in persons with chronic stroke.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationAfter stroke, walking faster did not make peak push more balanced between legs. It did make total push over time more balanced, especially in people with greater asymmetry at comfortable speed.
• PTOTSLPOther2025Proprioception After Unilateral Stroke: Changes in the Affected and Unaffected Lower Limbs Over Time.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapyAnkle proprioception declined linearly over time after unilateral stroke, affecting both the injured and the seemingly healthy leg. The unaffected side could not serve as a reliable baseline. Clinicians should assess both limbs and monitor deficits from the acute phase onwards.
• PTOther2025Gait during community ambulation and laboratory-based walking in people with mild traumatic brain injury.Gait & posturePeople with symptomatic mild TBI walked slower, took shorter steps, and had more variable step timing than controls during a 400-m community walk. These deficits were smaller in short lab walks.
• PTOther2025Anticipatory and Compensatory Postural Adjustments in Sitting and Standing Positions During Functional Activities in Children With Cerebral Palsy.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapyWhen children with CP caught a ball, their compensatory postural muscle activity was higher with a heavy ball than a light ball in sitting and standing. Anticipatory muscle activity did not differ by load, and GMFCS level I and II did not differ.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Time course for acquiring toileting independence in patients with subacute stroke: a prospective cohort study.Journal of rehabilitation medicineStroke patients followed three distinct paths to toileting independence. Those with higher baseline function became independent quickly. Those needing assistance improved over time, while others remained dependent. This suggests targeting specific subtasks based on initial ability rather than using a uniform approach.
• PTCohort2025Comparison of changes in skeletal muscle mass after stroke categorized by the severity of motor dysfunction: a retrospective study.Journal of physical therapy scienceSeventeen stroke patients showed no significant difference in muscle loss between those with mild and moderate motor dysfunction over eight weeks. Both groups maintained or slightly gained muscle mass, suggesting severe paralysis alone did not predict faster atrophy in this small sample.
• PTOTSLPPilot2025Co-Designed Digital Device for Tracking Rehabilitation Dosage in a Clinical Environment After Stroke: Mixed Methods Validity and Feasibility Study.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesA co-designed NFC tracker logged stroke rehabilitation time similarly to staff manual notes with no meaningful difference, and users found it easy to use and feasible for stroke inpatients.