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 67 OF 78 · NEWEST FIRST

• PTOTCohort2025Development and psychometric evaluation of an integrative Manual Muscle Test for patients with post-stroke hemiplegia.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineA new 17-item muscle test for stroke patients takes 15 to 20 minutes and scores both movement range and strength. It reliably distinguishes normal movement from spastic synergy and correlates strongly with balance and walking ability.
• PTMeta-Analysis2026Effectiveness of Functional Electrical Stimulation Assisted Locomotor Training on walking Outcomes Following Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairAdding functional electrical stimulation to locomotor training did not significantly improve walking speed or endurance compared with control conditions in adults with motor incomplete spinal cord injury. The pooled randomized trials were small, and study results varied.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Cognitive Impairments Impact Functional Mobility in Stroke Survivors.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairStroke survivors with cognitive impairment showed worse balance, walking, and driving than cognitively normal survivors, despite similar motor strength. Driving performance was the most affected area. Cognitive deficits impact mobility independently of physical weakness, suggesting routine cognitive screening is vital for safe mobility planning.
• PTOTCase-Control2025Foot placement coordination is impaired in people with Parkinson's disease.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationPeople with Parkinson's disease place their feet less precisely than healthy adults, with errors of 3 to 4 mm. This loss of fine control occurs even when walking speed is normal, suggesting a specific deficit in how the body coordinates steps to maintain balance.
• PTOther2025Reproducibility of the Motor Optimality Score-Revised in infants with an increased risk of adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes.Developmental medicine and child neurologyFor infants at risk of neurodevelopmental problems, six trained clinicians could disagree on total movement quality, especially when fidgety movements were included. Scoring two videos and reaching group agreement made scores more consistent.
• PTOTSLPOther2025Genetic testing in cerebral palsy with clinical and neuroimaging variables.Developmental medicine and child neurologyClinicians support genetic testing for cerebral palsy but lack clear guidelines on who to test. In a retrospective cohort, no single clinical or MRI factor reliably predicted a genetic cause after multivariable analysis, though dysmorphic features and normal MRI were suggestive in univariable models.
• PTOTRCT2025Participation in activities of daily living after the Akwenda Intervention Program for children and young people with cerebral palsy in Uganda: A cluster-randomized trial.Developmental medicine and child neurologyChildren with cerebral palsy in rural Uganda who received the Akwenda program increased their attendance in daily activities more than waiting-list controls. Gains were largest for those with greater mobility limitations and in community activities like celebrations and employment.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Evaluation of sonographic ulnar nerve cross-sectional area cutoff values at and around the medial epicondyle for diagnosing ulnar neuropathy at the elbow in wheelchair users.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineA 10 mm² ulnar nerve size on ultrasound is highly specific for cubital tunnel syndrome in wheelchair users, making it useful for confirming the diagnosis. However, sensitivity was low, so a normal scan does not rule out the condition.
• PTOther2026Association of sports and physical activity with mild traumatic brain injury and behavioral and neurocognitive function.Brain injurySoccer and climbing were linked with a higher chance of a history of mild brain injury in 9- to 10-year-olds, while yoga was linked with a lower chance. Sports participation was also linked with fewer behavioral and emotional problems and better thinking scores.
• PTOTRCT2025The impact of bimanual reach training with augmented position sense feedback on post-stroke upper limb somatosensory and motor impairment.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationBimanual robot training improved position sense and motor impairment in chronic stroke patients, but adding force-coupling to the less-affected arm provided no benefit over visual feedback alone. Both groups improved similarly, suggesting the active practice itself drives recovery.
• PTOther2025Development and validation of the electrosacrogram (ESG): a digital point-of-care tool for real-time neuro-sacral assessment after spinal cord injury.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationA bedside electrical muscle test quantified sacral squeeze and sensation after spinal cord injury. It matched rectal exam for squeeze and sensation, not resting tone, and a normal result did not rule out pathology.
• PTOTPilot2025EMG-guided human-machine interaction training develops new intermuscular coordination patterns in stroke: a pilot study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationFour stroke survivors learned to separate two co-activating arm muscles using EMG feedback over six weeks. This changed how their muscles coordinated and improved reaching and wrist movement, but the study was too small to prove the method works.
• PTOTRCT2025Comparison of Body Weight Support-Assisted Balance and Gait Training With or Without Balance Perturbations in Poststroke Rehabilitation: Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesAdding eight balance perturbations to body-weight supported gait training did not improve balance, confidence, or walking speed more than standard training alone in poststroke inpatients. Both groups improved similarly. The added perturbation module offers no functional advantage over standard care in this setting.
• PTOTRCT2025High-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for stroke patients lower extremity function: primary motor cortex versus cerebellar stimulation. A randomized controlled trial.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineAfter stroke, two weeks of high-frequency brain stimulation to the motor cortex or cerebellum, with conventional rehab and medication, improved lower-limb function and balance more than sham. The contribution of brain stimulation alone cannot be separated from the other treatments.
• PTOTSLPPilot2025Sonomyography accurately captures joint kinematics during volitional and electrically stimulated motion in healthy adults and an individual with cerebral palsy.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationUltrasound imaging tracked wrist and ankle movement accurately in four people, including one with cerebral palsy. This method resisted electrical stimulation noise that blinded standard muscle sensors, but it is a technical feasibility check, not a clinical tool yet.
• PTOTRCT2025The Berlin bimanual test for stroke survivors (BeBiT-S): evaluating exoskeleton-assisted bimanual motor function after stroke.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationA new 10-task bimanual test for stroke survivors scored reliably and agreed with existing hand function scores. With a brain-controlled hand exoskeleton, 15 participants scored higher on the test, mainly in grasping and stabilizing.
• PTOTOther2025Assessment of gait patterns in breast cancer survivors: a cross-sectional study.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineBreast cancer survivors walked slower with shorter steps and a wider base than healthy women. These gait changes appeared within 12 months of surgery, suggesting early rehabilitation could help prevent mobility decline.
• PTOTCohort2025Overground robotic walker use in the home and community: a six-month prospective cohort study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationOver six months, family-directed use of a robotic walker in the home was associated with modest improvements in walking ability, physical activity, and sleep. Most participants remained wheelchair users, and gains rarely crossed the threshold for clinical importance.
• PTOTCase-Control2025Inter-segmental coordination patterns in Parkinson's disease are particularly disturbed during preferred walking speed: a data-driven network approach.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationPeople with Parkinson's disease show severely disturbed whole-body coordination during their preferred walking speed, but much less so when walking fast or slow. The overall movement structure remains intact, but variability is higher, suggesting the automatic nature of normal-speed walking is the main challenge.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2025Upper extremity pain after stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis on primary prevention.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineMost common prevention methods like slings, taping, and exercises did not significantly reduce upper limb pain after stroke. Only intramuscular injections showed potential benefit, but evidence was very weak. Current guidelines lack strong data to support specific preventive strategies.
• PTOTPilot2025Noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation and static balance in parkinson's disease: a multimodal resting‑state fMRI feasibility study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationIn 41 patients with Parkinson's, one session of noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation improved Berg Balance scores immediately and at one week. Functional reach and discomfort also improved, but Timed Up and Go did not change significantly at first. No sham group was used.
• PTOTSLPOther2026Understanding and Assessing Health-Related Quality of Life in Caregivers of Individuals With Traumatic Brain Injury and Comorbid Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationCare partners of people with both traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder report significantly worse quality of life than those caring for brain injury alone. These caregivers face unique strain beyond physical disability or hours spent caregiving, marking them for targeted support.
• PTOTSLPRCT2026Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder as a moderator of the efficacy of family-based problem solving after pediatric traumatic brain injury.Rehabilitation psychologyFamily-based problem solving improved daily functioning in teens without ADHD, but not those with pre-injury ADHD. Teens who developed ADHD after injury showed delayed gains at 18 months. Identify ADHD history before prescribing this intervention.
• PTOTOther2025Towards AI-based precision rehabilitation via contextual model-based reinforcement learning.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationA proposed AI dose-scheduler outperformed fixed upper-limb therapy schedules in synthetic stroke simulations, but it was not tested in people, so it cannot change clinic practice yet.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2025Artificial intelligence in rehabilitation: a living systematic mapping review - first release.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineMost AI research in rehabilitation is small, internal, and focused on stroke or gait, with very few trials testing real clinical benefit. Half the studies had no comparison group, and external validation was rare, so these tools are not yet proven to improve patient outcomes.
• PTOTRCT2025Motor imagery training promotes motor learning and brain plasticity without fatigability in people with progressive multiple sclerosis.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicinePhysical finger training caused fatigue and failed to improve speed in people with progressive MS. Imagining the same movements improved speed and brain excitability without causing fatigue, though gains did not last an hour.
• PTOTSLPRCT2025Haptic interaction with a human partner for ankle training in chronic stroke: a pilot study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationFor ankle training in stroke, partnering with a therapist via robots felt similar to robotic guidance but didn't improve movement accuracy more. The partner method did increase dorsiflexor muscle activation after training, suggesting it may encourage more active effort.
• PTOTRCT2025Effects of mirror therapy preceding augmented reality in stroke rehabilitation: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationAdding mirror therapy before augmented reality games improved upper limb motor function and sensation more than AR games alone or conventional therapy in stroke survivors. Both AR groups improved balance better than conventional therapy, with gains maintained at three months.
• PTOTRCT2025Efficacy of bilateral soft exoskeleton training for people with subacute stroke: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationAdding bilateral soft exoskeleton assistance to standard treadmill training improved walking speed, gait symmetry, and independence more than conventional training alone in people with subacute stroke. The exoskeleton group gained 0.17 m/s in speed, exceeding the threshold for meaningful change.
• PTOther2025Decoding preparatory movement state-based motor imagery with multi layer energy decoder.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationA new EEG method correctly separated left from right elbow imagery 86.56% of the time in 14 healthy volunteers when preparation and imagery features were scored separately.
• PTRCT2026Higher Intensity Walking Training in Individuals With Chronic Motor Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury: A Randomized Clinical Trial.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairFastest overground walking speed did not show a clear advantage for higher-intensity training, but peak treadmill speed and 6-minute walk distance were greater with higher intensity in chronic motor incomplete spinal cord injury.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2025Technologies for the three-dimensional assessment and treatment of unilateral spatial neglect in individuals with stroke: a systematic review.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationVirtual reality is the dominant 3D technology for neglect, but evidence remains weak. Randomised trials show inconsistent results, with many failing to find significant differences against conventional therapy. Robotics are rarely used alone, and most studies are small pilots without clear efficacy.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Long-lasting neurobehavioral disorders after traumatic brain injury: potential predictors and functional outcomes.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineIn 54 survivors of severe traumatic brain injury, longer post-traumatic amnesia, lower cognitive function at rehabilitation admission, traumatic axonal injury, and less education were associated with more neurobehavioral disorders at 12 months. These disorders correlated with worse functional outcomes.
• PTRCT2025Effect of robot-assisted gait training combined with electroacupuncture on lower limb motor function and brain network characteristics in stroke: an EEG study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationAdding scalp electroacupuncture to robot gait training, on top of usual medication and rehabilitation, did not improve leg movement more than robot training alone after 3 weeks. Both groups improved, and no adverse reactions were reported.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Interrelationship between fatigue and recovery of physical function in stroke survivors: a longitudinal mixed-methods study.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineHigher fatigue was linked to poorer physical function over six months after stroke. Survivors described fatigue as shifting between physical and mental, and seven participants said health professionals gave little guidance.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Mobility device use in children with cerebral palsy.Developmental medicine and child neurologyChildren with cerebral palsy used more mobility devices as they aged, with wheelchair likelihood increasing yearly. Lower-extremity braces were the most common device across all severity levels. Walkers and standers were underused compared to clinical need, suggesting gaps in equipment access rather than prescription.
• PTOTPilot2025Non-invasive assessment of muscle spasticity in children with cerebral palsy undergoing botulinum toxin treatment using near-infrared spectroscopy.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationMuscle oxygenation measured by NIRS rose significantly after botulinum toxin injections in children with cerebral palsy, peaking at 6 to 10 weeks and returning to baseline by 6 months. These changes correlated with reduced spasticity scores, suggesting NIRS could track treatment response.
• PTOTSLPCase-Control2026Self-perceived fatigue in relation to activity and participation in adolescents and adults with cerebral palsy living in urban South Africa.Journal of pediatric rehabilitation medicineAdolescents and adults with cerebral palsy in urban South Africa reported similar levels of self-perceived fatigue to their typically developing peers. Fatigue was not associated with how accomplished or satisfied they felt in daily activities, challenging assumptions derived from high-income country studies.
• PTOTRCT2025Adaptive control ankle robotics training durably improves gait biomechanics in chronic hemiparetic stroke and footdrop.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationAnkle robotics training improved toe clearance and heel-strike patterns in chronic stroke survivors. These gains persisted two months after training ended, alongside delayed increases in knee and hip flexion. The study was single-arm, so improvements cannot be compared against standard care.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2025Tools and methods for assessing the usability and related aspects of usability of extended reality and telerehabilitation technologies in stroke rehabilitation: a scoping review.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationMost usability studies of stroke technology, including virtual reality and remote rehabilitation, used questionnaires, especially the System Usability Scale and custom forms. Many studies combined tools to cover different aspects, so check motivation, motion sickness, workload and patient experience when choosing technology.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2025Can wearable real-time biofeedback gait training devices improve gait speed, balance, functional mobility and activities of daily living (ADL) in individuals post-stroke? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationWearable biofeedback gait training improved walking speed, balance, and mobility compared to standard care, but showed no benefit for daily living activities. Evidence quality is low to moderate, with no significant effect found for the most common auditory feedback setups.
• PTCase-Control2025Intersegmental dynamics imbalance in gait impairments of children with spastic hemiplegia: insights from different torque contribution.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationChildren with spastic hemiplegia rely excessively on active muscle contraction rather than passive forces like gravity during walking. This inefficient strategy increases energy cost and rigidity. Rehabilitation should target coordination and passive torque utilization, not just strength.
• PTOTSLPNarrative Review2026Standardizing the Measurement and Definition of Post-Stroke Cognitive Impairment: Implications for Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairThere is no agreed-upon definition or standard measurement for post-stroke cognitive impairment. This variability makes it hard to compare studies or identify which patients need specific rehabilitation. Experts recommend creating a consensus definition, similar to how mild cognitive impairment was standardized, to improve care.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Respiratory admissions and impact of COVID-19 lockdowns for children with severe cerebral palsy.Developmental medicine and child neurologyLockdowns cut respiratory hospital admissions for children with severe cerebral palsy by nearly half, but admissions surged after restrictions lifted. Viral infections were the main trigger. This suggests community transmission drives these crises more than chronic lung disease alone.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Predictors of community participation from preschool to school age in children with cerebral palsy.Developmental medicine and child neurologyChildren with cerebral palsy participated far less in their community than at home, and this gap persisted from preschool to school age. Preschoolers rated as having strengths in prosocial behaviour had higher community participation at school age.
• PTOTSLPOther2025A core outcome set to assess chronic pain interference and impact on emotional functioning for children and young people with cerebral palsy.Developmental medicine and child neurologyConsensus identified 20 tools to assess how chronic pain affects daily life and emotions in children and young people with cerebral palsy, including proxy and observational options for those who cannot self-report.
• PTOTSystematic Review2025Effectiveness of transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation for lower limb rehabilitation in spinal cord injury: a systematic review.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationEvidence for non-invasive spinal stimulation to improve leg function after spinal cord injury is very uncertain. One high-quality trial showed modest gains in strength and walking speed, but most studies had mixed or null results. It appears safe, with only minor skin irritation reported.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Effective and Efficient Rehabilitation. What Works Best for Persons With SCI During (Sub)Acute Phase of Rehabilitation?Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translationComprehensive inpatient rehabilitation for spinal cord injury improved independence scores by an average of 35.7 points. Gains varied significantly by injury severity, with patients with AIS D injuries showing the highest effectiveness and those with C1-C4 injuries the lowest.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2025Efficacy of Acupuncture Combined With Robotic Therapy in the Treatment of Limb Dysfunction After Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translationAdding acupuncture to robot therapy improved daily living scores by 7 points, exceeding the clinically important threshold. However, gains in limb motor function were only 5 points, falling short of the 6-point threshold needed to be considered clinically meaningful.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Health-Related Quality of Life in Survivors of Stroke Post Inpatient Rehabilitation Discharged to a Home Setting.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translationFor stroke survivors returning home from rehab, quality of life was best predicted by how well they could move, think, and manage anxiety or depression. Age, income, and initial stroke severity did not significantly predict quality of life.