Back to Search
Start Over
Long-Term Training with a Brain-Machine Interface-Based Gait Protocol Induces Partial Neurological Recovery in Paraplegic Patients.
- Source :
-
Scientific reports [Sci Rep] 2016 Aug 11; Vol. 6, pp. 30383. Date of Electronic Publication: 2016 Aug 11. - Publication Year :
- 2016
-
Abstract
- Brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) provide a new assistive strategy aimed at restoring mobility in severely paralyzed patients. Yet, no study in animals or in human subjects has indicated that long-term BMI training could induce any type of clinical recovery. Eight chronic (3-13 years) spinal cord injury (SCI) paraplegics were subjected to long-term training (12 months) with a multi-stage BMI-based gait neurorehabilitation paradigm aimed at restoring locomotion. This paradigm combined intense immersive virtual reality training, enriched visual-tactile feedback, and walking with two EEG-controlled robotic actuators, including a custom-designed lower limb exoskeleton capable of delivering tactile feedback to subjects. Following 12 months of training with this paradigm, all eight patients experienced neurological improvements in somatic sensation (pain localization, fine/crude touch, and proprioceptive sensing) in multiple dermatomes. Patients also regained voluntary motor control in key muscles below the SCI level, as measured by EMGs, resulting in marked improvement in their walking index. As a result, 50% of these patients were upgraded to an incomplete paraplegia classification. Neurological recovery was paralleled by the reemergence of lower limb motor imagery at cortical level. We hypothesize that this unprecedented neurological recovery results from both cortical and spinal cord plasticity triggered by long-term BMI usage.
- Subjects :
- Adolescent
Adult
Electroencephalography
Feedback, Sensory
Female
Humans
Interdisciplinary Communication
Locomotion
Lower Extremity
Male
Paraplegia physiopathology
Robotics
Spinal Cord Injuries physiopathology
Young Adult
Brain-Computer Interfaces
Gait physiology
Neurological Rehabilitation methods
Paraplegia rehabilitation
Spinal Cord Injuries rehabilitation
Walking physiology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 2045-2322
- Volume :
- 6
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Scientific reports
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 27513629
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1038/srep30383