Therapeutic effects of powered exoskeletal robot-assisted gait training in inpatients in the early stage after stroke: a pilot case-controlled study.

Background: Robot-assisted rehabilitation is considered beneficial for functional recovery in patients with stroke, but the therapeutic effect remains inconclusive. The present study investigated the therapeutic effects of gait training assisted by a user-initiated powered exoskeletal robot (UIPER) in patients in the early stage after stroke. We also characterized patients' improvement by analyzing chronological changes in clinical measurements together with gait parameters obtained from internal sensors in the exoskeletal robot.

A protocol for tactile function assessment using JVP domes: Feasibility study and preliminary results.

Background: Touch is a crucial sense for perceiving the spatial characteristics of objects. The JVP dome was developed to evaluate tactile spatial acuity using a grating orientation task. There were few studies depicting sequences and details for the entire task, including practice, training, and testing sessions.

A Novel Tactile Function Assessment Using a Miniature Tactile Stimulator.

Several methods for the measurement of tactile acuity have been devised previously, but unexpected nonspatial cues and intensive manual skill requirements compromise measurement accuracy. Therefore, we must urgently develop an automated, accurate, and noninvasive method for assessing tactile acuity. The present study develops a novel method applying a robotic tactile stimulator to automatically measure tactile acuity that comprises eye-opened, eye-closed training, and testing sessions.

Synergic Effect of Robot-Assisted Rehabilitation and Antispasticity Therapy: A Narrative Review.

Background: Stroke and spinal cord injury are neurological disorders that cause disability and exert tremendous social and economic effects. Robot-assisted training (RAT), which may reduce spasticity, is widely applied in neurorehabilitation. The combined effects of RAT and antispasticity therapies, such as botulinum toxin A injection therapy, on functional recovery remain unclear.

Bilateral Sensorimotor Cortical Communication Modulated by Multiple Hand Training in Stroke Participants: A Single Training Session Pilot Study.

Bi-manual therapy (BT), mirror therapy (MT), and robot-assisted rehabilitation have been conducted in hand training in a wide range of stages in stroke patients; however, the mechanisms of action during training remain unclear. In the present study, participants performed hand tasks under different intervention conditions to study bilateral sensorimotor cortical communication, and EEG was recorded. A multifactorial design of the experiment was used with the factors of manipulating objects (O), robot-assisted bimanual training (RT), and MT.

Robot-Assisted Bimanual Training Improves Hand Function in Patients With Subacute Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study.

Study Design: A randomized controlled pilot study.

Background: Bimanual therapy (BMT) is an effective neurorehabilitation therapy for the upper limb, but its application to the distal upper limb is limited due to methodological difficulties. Therefore, we applied an exoskeleton hand to perform robot-assisted task-oriented bimanual training (RBMT) in patients with stroke.

Alternation of Neuronal Feature Selectivity Induced by Paired Optogenetic-Mechanical Stimulation in the Barrel Cortex.

Paired stimulation has been applied to modulate neuronal functions in the primary somatosensory cortex but its utility in the alternation of tuning function, such as direction tuning for whisker stimuli, remains unclear. In the present study, we attempted to manipulate feature preferences in barrel cortical neurons using repetitive paired whisker deflection combined with optogenetic stimulation and to obtain optimal parameters that can induce neuroplasticity. We found no significant response changes across stimulus parameters, such as onset asynchronies and paired directions.

Author Correction: Relative posture between head and finger determines perceived tactile direction of motion.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Relative posture between head and finger determines perceived tactile direction of motion.

The hand explores the environment for obtaining tactile information that can be fruitfully integrated with other functions, such as vision, audition, and movement. In theory, somatosensory signals gathered by the hand are accurately mapped in the world-centered (allocentric) reference frame such that the multi-modal information signals, whether visual-tactile or motor-tactile, are perfectly aligned. However, an accumulating body of evidence indicates that the perceived tactile orientation or direction is inaccurate; yielding a surprisingly large perceptual bias.

Early recovery of neuronal functioning in the sensory cortex after nerve reconstruction surgery.

Background: Nerve reconstructive surgery induces a transient loss and a prolonged and a gradual return of sensory inputs to the brain. It is unknown whether, following this massive peripheral denervation, the brain will experience a prolonged period of severe, intrinsic dysfunction.

Objective: We aim to investigate the mechanisms of return of processing function in cortical neurons.

Illusory Motion Reversal in Touch.

Psychophysical visual experiments have shown illusory motion reversal (IMR), in which the perceived direction of motion is the opposite of its actual direction. The tactile form of this illusion has also been reported. However, it remains unclear which stimulus characteristics affect the magnitude of IMR.

Usability Assessment of a Cable-Driven Exoskeletal Robot for Hand Rehabilitation.

Case series. Robot-assisted rehabilitation mediated by exoskeletal devices is a popular topic of research. The biggest difficulty in the development of rehabilitation robots is the consideration of the clinical needs.

An electroneurography-based assay for identifying injured nerve segment during surgery: design and in vivo application in the rat.

Objective: Nerve injury is the main reason for nerve reconstruction surgery, during which the surgeon must determine the location of the injured nerve segment, resect it, and reconnect the remaining healthy nerve stump ends within a limited time. Given this importance, an assay needed to determine the exact location of the injured nerve segment, but no tool has yet fulfilled this need so that a visual inspection of the nerve is still the primary method of identifying the injured segment.

Approach: We designed a flexible multi-electrode array sensor that records the electroneurographic signal (ENG) as the action potential elicited by electrical stimulation that propagates along the nerve upon both orthodromic and antidromic stimulation.

T-type calcium channel blocker Z944 restores cortical synchrony and thalamocortical connectivity in a rat model of neuropathic pain.

Oscillations are fundamental to communication between neuronal ensembles. We previously reported that pain in awake rats enhances synchrony in primary somatosensory cortex (S1) and attenuates coherence between S1 and ventral posterolateral (VPL) thalamus. Here, we asked whether similar changes occur in anesthetized rats and whether pain modulates phase-amplitude coupling between VPL and S1.

Plasticity of cerebellar Purkinje cells in behavioral training of body balance control.

Neural responses to sensory inputs caused by self-generated movements (reafference) and external passive stimulation (exafference) differ in various brain regions. The ability to differentiate such sensory information can lead to movement execution with better accuracy. However, how sensory responses are adjusted in regard to this distinguishability during motor learning is still poorly understood.

Granger causality-based synaptic weights estimation for analyzing neuronal networks.

Granger causality (GC) analysis has emerged as a powerful analytical method for estimating the causal relationship among various types of neural activity data. However, two problems remain not very clear and further researches are needed: (1) The GC measure is designed to be nonnegative in its original form, lacking of the trait for differentiating the effects of excitations and inhibitions between neurons. (2) How is the estimated causality related to the underlying synaptic weights? Based on the GC, we propose a computational algorithm under a best linear predictor assumption for analyzing neuronal networks by estimating the synaptic weights among them.

Collateral projections from vestibular nuclear and inferior olivary neurons to lobules I/II and IX/X of the rat cerebellar vermis: a double retrograde labeling study.

Axon collateral projections to various lobules of the cerebellar cortex are thought to contribute to the coordination of neuronal activities among different parts of the cerebellum. Even though lobules I/II and IX/X of the cerebellar vermis are located at the opposite poles in the anterior-posterior axis, they have been shown to receive dense vestibular mossy fiber projections. For climbing fibers, there is also a mirror-image-like organisation in their axonal collaterals between the anterior and posterior cerebellar cortex.

Neuronal oscillations in Golgi cells and Purkinje cells are accompanied by decreases in Shannon information entropy.

Neuronal oscillations have been shown to contribute to the function of the cerebral cortex by coordinating the neuronal activities of distant cortical regions via a temporal synchronization of neuronal discharge patterns. This can occur regardless whether these regions are linked by cortico-cortical pathways or not. Less is known concerning the role of neuronal oscillations in the cerebellum.

Surface passivation of efficient nanotextured black silicon solar cells using thermal atomic layer deposition.

Efficient nanotextured black silicon solar cells passivated by an Al2O3 layer are demonstrated. The broadband antireflection of the nanotextured black silicon solar cells was provided by fabricating vertically aligned silicon nanowire (SiNW) arrays on the n(+) emitter. A highly conformal Al2O3 layer was deposited upon the SiNW arrays by the thermal atomic layer deposition (ALD) based on the multiple pulses scheme.

Effects of dopamine D2 agonist quinpirole on neuronal activity of anterior cingulate cortex and striatum in rats.

Rationale: The influence of acute D2 agonist quinpirole on locomotor activity has been effectively characterized. However, few studies have addressed the dynamic changes in neuronal activity of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and striatum (STR), two crucial regions for cognitive and motor functions, after quinpirole administration.

Objective: This study was conducted in order to acquire detailed information on the evoked activity of the neurons in the ACC and STR after acute quinpirole administration.

Acute ethanol exposure increases firing and induces oscillations in cerebellar Golgi cells of freely moving rats.

Background: Alcohol is a widely abused substance and is responsible for significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. The precise mechanisms underlying ethanol (EtOH)'s actions in the central nervous system (CNS) remain elusive. In vitro studies suggest that GABAergic interneurons are important targets of EtOH action in the CNS.

A home-made low-cost hydraulic swivel and catheter assembly for blood pressure recording and drug infusion in freely moving mice.

We constructed a chassis that tightly fixes catheters for cannulation to the muscle. It can buffer pulling forces to avoid a mechanical tearing of the skin of mice as a result of movement. A simple hydraulic swivel was also made for blood pressure recording and drug infusion in freely moving mice.