Saturday August 27, 2022 – Author:
ham
Moving a paralyzed hand with your thoughts – intelligent neuroprostheses can do that. In stroke patients, the orthoses help to create new connections between the brain and the paralyzed muscle, as researchers from Tübingen report.
What is being researched at the Institute for Neuromodulation and Neurotechnology at the University Hospital in Tübingen sounds a bit like science fiction: regarding the mobility of one by one stroke To improve the paralyzed hand, brain impulses generated by an attempted or imagined movement are transmitted in a very short time to technological aids such as robotic orthoses, which allow the paralyzed hand to be opened.
Neuroplastic reorganization of the brain
In this way, Prof. Alireza Gharabaghiz explains, the test subjects felt their fingers actually moving despite their paralysis, so they didn’t just watch. And: “These haptic impressions create a feedback loop between the brain and the paralyzed muscle,” reports the researcher.
The Tübingen researchers were recently able to prove that following a severe stroke, even very extensive regions in both hemispheres of the brain are connected to the paralyzed hand. And that these brain areas are larger, the more severely handicapped the patient is. Apparently, following a stroke, the brain tries to find all suitable ones on its own neural resources to activate in order to overcome the paralysis, the scientists suspect.
Neuroprosthesis activates new connections in the brain
In a recent study, Gharabaghi’s team was able to demonstrate something else: the previously observed neuroplastic reorganization can be supported by training with an intelligent neuroprosthesis. The researchers were also able to show exactly where this happens and how new connections between the brain and the paralyzed muscle are strengthened, i.e. new connections are activated.
“The brain neurons in these additional brain areas synchronize with the spinal cord neurons that are responsible for opening the hand. The stronger this synchronization takes place in the frequency band around 20 Hz, the better clinical successes might subsequently be observed,” the study authors now report in the journal Journal of Neuroscience.
According to the Institute for Neuromodulation and Neurotechnology, it was founded in 2020 “to bring together experts from medicine, neuroscience, medical technology and computer science under one roof” so that they can jointly develop therapies that really help those affected. “We’re still at the beginning, but now we understand better which direction we need to look in,” says Institute Director Gharabaghi.
Stroke patients with hand paralysis wanted
A paralyzed hand is common with strokes. For example, if the left hand is paralyzed, the right hemisphere of the brain was damaged by the stroke. Because: The impulses for movements of the left half of the body are normally controlled by a circumscribed area in the right half of the brain and vice versa.
The institute is still looking for subjects for follow-up studies: Patients with permanent hand paralysis following a stroke can register for follow-up studies by sending an e-mail to [email protected] or calling 07071 29 85138.