Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 20, 2026

Author Spotlight: Assessing Brain Activity in Robotic-Assisted Lower Limb Rehabilitation Using fNIRS
Published on: June 7, 2024
Cerebral hemodynamic changes during motor imagery and passive robot-assisted movement of the lower limbs
Paola Caruso1, Mariana Ridolfi1, Giovanni Furlanis1
1Clinical Unit of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Health Sciences, University Hospital and Health Services of Trieste, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy.
Background:
Neurovascular Coupling is the cerebral mechanism responsible for linking neuronal activity, cerebral metabolism and regional cerebral blood flow (CBF). The direct relation between functional brain activity during active, passive and motor imagery paradigms and changes in CBF has been widely investigated using different techniques. However, CBF changes have not been investigated beat by beat during robot assisted passive movement (PM) and motor imagery (MI) of lower limb, yet.
Materials And Methods:
We investigated beat-to-beat hemodynamic changes in 8 healthy subjects using TCD during MI and robot-assisted PM of lower limb.
Results:
The results showed that MI and PM induce a significant CBFv increase and that PM and MI lead to similar hemodynamic changes in healthy subjects.
Conclusions:
The findings may be useful to better understand the variation of CBFv in brain pathology and to develop more specific and efficient rehabilitation therapy protocols in neurological diseases, such as stroke.
More Related Videos
09:42Author Spotlight: Using Motor Imagery Brain-Computer Interface to Improve Motor and Cognitive Function in Stroke Patients
Published on: September 1, 2023
04:49Author Spotlight: Enhancing Post-Stroke Upper Limb Rehabilitation with Robotic Technologies for Improved Motor Recovery and Functional Outcomes
Published on: September 6, 2024
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