Passive, yet not inactive: robotic exoskeleton walking increases cortical activation dependent on task.

Journal: Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation
Published Date: Aug 10, 2020

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Experimental designs using surrogate gait-like movements, such as in functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), cannot fully capture the cortical activation associated with overground gait. Overground gait in a robotic exoskeleton may be an ideal tool to generate controlled sensorimotor stimulation of gait conditions like 'active' (i.e. user moves with the device) and 'passive' (i.e. user is moved by the device) gait. To truly understand these neural mechanisms, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) would yield greater ecological validity. Thus, the aim of this experiment was to use fNIRS to delineate brain activation differences between 'Active' and 'Passive' overground gait in a robotic exoskeleton.

Authors

  • Sue Peters
    Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 212 - 2177 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada.
  • Shannon B Lim
    Rehabilitation Research Program, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, 4255 Laurel Street, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 2G9, Canada.
  • Dennis R Louie
    University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. r.louie@alumni.utoronto.ca.
  • Chieh-Ling Yang
    Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 212 - 2177 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada.
  • Janice J Eng
    University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. janice.eng@ubc.ca.

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