LAUSR

Accumulating evidence revealed that the functional reorganization plays an important role in functional recovery after brain damage in patients with neurological diseases. Recently, “neuromodulation techniques” which enhance functional reorganization of the damaged brain have drawn attention as tools for augmenting efficacy of neurorehabilitation. Neuromodulation including neural stimulation and neurofeedback has been introduced into the field of neurorehabilitation, Neurofeedback is the technique in which subjects try to modulate their own neural activity voluntarily with real-time feedback using analyzed brain signal. Since the neurofeedback and Brain-Machine Interface (BMI) technique shares common process that detecting and analyzing specific brain signal, neurofeedback could be classified as a therapeutic application of BMI technique. Among various neuroimaging techniques, we have developed the functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) mediated neurofeedback system for an augmenting tool for rehabilitative intervention, since fNIRS can detect regional brain signal without onerous constraint. Using fNIRS-mediated neurofeedback system, we have revealed that the neurofeedback intervention enhanced functional recovery of motor symptoms of stroke patients including upper liomb paresis and gait and balance impairment. Recent advances including our data and the future prospective of the neurofeedback intervention would be discussed in this symposium.