Re-learning mental representation of walking after a brain lesion. Effects of a cognitive-motor training with a robotic orthosis.

Introduction: Stroke-related deficits often include motor impairments and gait dysfunction, leading to a limitation of social activities and consequently affecting the quality of life of stroke survivors. Neurorehabilitation takes advantage of the contribution of different techniques in order to achieve more benefits for patients. Robotic devices help to improve the outcomes of physical rehabilitation.

Lessons Learned From Nocebo Effects in Clinical Trials for Pain Conditions and Neurodegenerative Disorders.

It has been demonstrated that patients in the placebo arm of a clinical trial may experience adverse events (AEs), which may lead to nonadherence and dropout. However, so far, it is unknown to which extent this phenomenon is observed consistently across different diseases such as pain and neurodegenerative disorders.The current review shows for the first time that different diseases share a common risk for patients in terms of a negative outcome: a large percentage of placebo-treated patients experience AEs in pain conditions (up to 59%) and neurodegenerative disorders (up to 66%).

Executed and imagined bimanual movements: a study across different ages.

Movements with both hands are essential to our everyday life, and it has been shown that performing asymmetric bimanual movements produces an interference effect between hands. There have been many studies--using varying methods--investigating the development of bimanual movements that show that this skill continues to evolve during childhood and adolescence. In the current study we used a spatial bimanual task to delineate the development of bimanual movements not only during different stages of childhood but also during late stages of adulthood.