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Brain stimulation boosts motor skills in robot-mediated rehab exercises

Monday 15 June 2009

Non-invasive stimulation of the motor cortex region of the brain causes measurable improvements in arm co-ordination, and could be effective in speeding up robot-mediated rehabilitation of muscle function following brain injury, according to a new study by Duncan Turner, Professor of Restorative Neuroscience and Rehabilitation at the University of East London, published today in The Journal of Physiology.

Professor Turner and his team demonstrated that healthy subjects learned a new reaching and pointing task using a joystick connected to a robot more rapidly when they also received non-invasive trans-cranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) during the learning process.

This is the first study where these two new technologies have been used together in a way that significantly boosts motor skill memories. The use of robotic devices in rehabilitation has been piloted in the USA and trials of non-invasive stimulation of brain areas affected by stroke have also been shown to help patients to better perform relatively simple motor tasks. However, the improvement in learning is modest when each type of intervention is used alone; this study demonstrates that the boost in learning can be augmented when the interventions are used simultaneously.

Professor Turner said: "The results have wide ranging impact for improving sporting performance and more effective design of brain-computer interfaces, but more significantly could offer a unique therapeutic tool to speed up the recovery or restitution of arm function in neurological conditions such as stroke and cerebral palsy."

Working in collaboration with stroke therapists and neurosurgeons at Queen's Hospital NHS Trust in Essex, Professor Turner is now introducing these new health technologies into stroke rehabilitation services within the south-east region of England.

Ends.

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Notes to Editors

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