Por Athanasios Vourvopoulos (LaSEEB, ISR, IST-ULisboa).
Electroencephalography-based Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI's), can provide an alternative non-muscular channel of control to stroke survivors, especially to those who lack volitional movement. This is achieved through motor-imagery (MI) practice, involving the activation of motor-related brain regions. MI is reinforced in a closed-loop BCI through rewarding feedback, and it has been shown to be able to strengthen key motor pathways. Recently, growing evidence of the positive impact of virtual reality (VR) has accumulated. When combined with BCI, VR can provide patients with a safe simulated environment for rehabilitation training, that could be adapted to real-world scenarios.
In this research, we investigate the role of MI-BCI training by using emerging technologies and how we can help stroke patients to maximize their rehabilitation benefits.
