Neurophysiology of Robot-Mediated Training and Therapy: A Perspective for Future Use in Clinical Populations

'Perspective' is totally useless and does absolutely nothing to get survivors 100% recovered.  The mentors and senor researchers who allowed this crapola need to be fired.  Survivors need to be in charge, this just proves once again that the current leadership is incompetent. 

Neurophysiology of Robot-Mediated Training and Therapy: A Perspective for Future Use in Clinical Populations

Duncan L.Turner
1,2
*,Ander Ramos-Murguialday
3,4
, Niels Birbaumer
3,5
, Ulrich Hoffmann
4
and Andreas Luft
6
1
Neurorehabilitation Unit, University of East London, London, UK
2
Lewin Stroke Rehabilitation Unit, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Cambridge University NHS FoundationTrust, Cambridge, UK
3
Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, MEG Center, University ofTubingen,Tubingen, Germany
4
Health Division,Tecnalia Research & Innovation, San Sebastian, Spain
5
Ospedale San Camillo, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico,Venezia Lido, Italy
6
Clinical Neurorehabilitation, Department of Neurology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Edited by:
Cuntai Guan, Institute for InfocommResearch, Singapore
Reviewed by:
Kenji Kansaku, Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, JapanRoberto Colombo, Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri, Italy
*Correspondence:
Duncan L.Turner, Neurorehabilitation Unit, School of Health, Sport and Bioscience, University of East London,  Stratford, London E15 4LZ,UK e-mail:  d.l.turner@uel.ac.uk
The recovery of functional movements following injury to the central nervous system (CNS)is multifaceted and is accompanied by processes occurring in the injured and noninjured hemispheres of the brain or above/below a spinal cord lesion.The changes in the CNS are the consequence of functional and structural processes collectively termed neuroplasticity and these may occur spontaneously and/or be induced by movement practice. The neurophysiological mechanisms underlying such brain plasticity may take different forms indifferent types of injury, for example stroke vs. spinal cord injury (SCI). Recovery of movement can be enhanced by intensive, repetitive, variable, and rewarding motor practice.To this end, robots that enable or facilitate repetitive movements have been developed to assist recovery and rehabilitation.  Here, we suggest that some elements of robot mediated training such as assistance and perturbation may have the potential to enhance neuroplasticity. Together the elemental components for developing integrated robot mediated training protocols may form part of a neurorehabilitation framework alongside those methods already employed by therapists. Robots could thus open up a wider choice of options for delivering movement rehabilitation grounded on the principles underpinning neuroplasticity in the human CNS.