A new study from Northwestern University developed a customized video game to help chronic stroke survivors regain lost arm function. After six weeks of therapy, participants showed significant improvement in arm function and daily activities, with scores improving up to 7.8 times that of the control group.
Researchers subjected fruit flies to extreme gravitational forces and found they adapted and recovered, showing resilience in movement and energy use. The study suggests the brain makes energy trade-offs based on gravity levels, with moderate increases pushing for more movement and higher energy demands.
Researchers identified previously unseen changes in motor coordination that result from incomplete spinal cord injuries. Motor units, nerve-to-muscle connections, struggle to spread signals smoothly across muscles at low exertion after the injury.
A new randomized clinical trial found that training the less-impaired arm significantly improved movement coordination, speed and control in chronic stroke survivors. The study showed that motor skills in the less-affected arm can be improved even years after a stroke occurs.
Researchers have uncovered how the motor cortex and striatum work together like an hourglass to flexibly control movement timing. By tracking neural activity patterns and manipulating specific brain regions using optogenetics, they identified the critical role of each region in the brain's internal timer.
A team of researchers, led by Jean-Paul Noel, has discovered that the brain's motor area largely coincides with the onset of intention. The study used a brain-machine interface to separate intentions from actions in a paralyzed participant, revealing a compressed temporal binding between intention and action.
Researchers found that people systematically underestimate their wrist mobility in three out of four hand movements, with an average underestimation of ten degrees. This distortion is believed to protect against injury by preventing overshooting and allowing for small corrections during movement.
A new study proposes a theoretically new mechanism to modulate spinal reflexes at the same spinal cord level as stretch reflexes during voluntary movements. The research, led by Biomedical engineering doctoral student Grace Niyo, suggests that a simple spinal circuit can correct self-perturbations from stretch reflexes to produce smoot...
Researchers discovered a class of cerebellar inputs, called climbing fibres, are essential for associative learning to occur. These
Scientists found that cooling or warming the striatum region slows down or speeds up activity patterns, which correlates with rats' timing judgements. This provides evidence for the 'population clock hypothesis', suggesting that brains use decentralized and flexible sense of time.
Researchers found a brain region, dorsal precentral gyrus, monitors auditory feedback to produce smooth speech. Hearing one's own voice with unnatural delays leads to increased activity in this region and the superior temporal gyrus.
A study of over 200 individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) found key differences in their fine motor control and eye movements compared to neurotypical peers. The research highlights the importance of considering multiple systems, including feedback and feed-forward systems, in understanding sensorimotor deficits in ASD.
A new study from Umeå University identifies a novel function of preparatory neural activity, highlighting the nervous system's ability to adjust muscle stiffness independently. This mechanism enables more precise movement preparation, facilitating successful interaction with the environment.
Researchers identified areas of the brain involved in voluntary and involuntary movement, finding that neural activity was restricted to the primary motor cortex during unconscious motor activity seen with Alien Hand Syndrome. The study suggests conscious and unconscious motor activity involves the same underlying brain structures.
Researchers found that the brain uses signals from vestibular organs to make on-line adjustments to whole-body voluntary movements. This mechanism may be especially valuable in complex, high-precision movements such as gymnastics or circus performances.