Event ANT Neuromeeting 2025 - Berlin starts on Jan 16, 2025, 9:00:00 AM (Europe/Berlin)
Mechanisms Behind Neurotechnology-Assisted Rehabilitation: First Results from a Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial
Set Favorite
Location: Festsaal - (30 minutes)

Mechanisms Behind Neurotechnology-Assisted Rehabilitation: First Results from a Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial
Reinhold Scherer, PhD
Head of School & Professor in Brain-Computer Interfaces and Neural Engineering at University of Essex
Head of School & Professor in Brain-Computer Interfaces and Neural Engineering at University of Essex

Reinhold Scherer is Professor of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) and Neural Engineering (NE) at the University of Essex. He is also the Co-Director of the Essex BCI-NE Laboratory and the current Head of the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering (CSEE). His academic journey includes a Dipl.-Ing. (MSc) degree obtained in 2001, a Dr.techn (PhD) in Computer Science awarded in 2008, and a Habilitation in Applied Computer Science conferred by Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), Austria, in 2016. His postdoctoral tenure from 2008 to 2010 was spent at the Paul G. Allen School for Computer Science & Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, USA. Prof. Scherer’s career progressed at TU Graz, where he held the roles of Assistant Professor from 2010 to 2016 and Associate Professor from 2016 to 2018 at the Institute of Neural Engineering. Additionally, he served as the deputy director of the same institute from 2011 to 2018. His expertise also extended to the role of technical director at the Institute for Neurological Rehabilitation and Research at the Clinic Judendorf-Straßengel in Austria from 2005 to 2016.


This presentation will showcase the preliminary findings from our double-blind, randomized controlled trial (RCT) on an intensive three-week in-hospital upper limb rehabilitation protocol. The study involved 25 stroke survivors and utilized non-invasive electroencephalogram (EEG)-based brain-computer interface (BCI), functional electrical stimulation (FES), and soft robotic exoskeleton technologies. Unlike previous Phase I RCTs, our intervention focused on functional movements relevant to daily activities and explored the contributions of the BCI component and CST plasticity mechanisms to rehabilitation. Our protocol led to a significant increase in Fugl-Meyer Assessment for the Upper Limb scores, with a more pronounced improvement in hand function compared to the control group, which received a sham intervention. Additionally, neural plasticity metrics indicated a correlation between recovery and intracortical/corticospinal tract (CST) plasticity.