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Brain Sciences
Special Issues
Clinical Research on Neurological Rehabilitation After Stroke
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Clinical Research on Neurological Rehabilitation After Stroke

A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Neurorehabilitation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 October 2026 | Viewed by 8528

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Myoung-Kwon Kim

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physical Therapy, College of Rehabilitation Sciences, Daegu University, Gyeongsan 38453, Republic of Korea
Interests: physical rehabilitation; gait; physiotherapy; stroke
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Stroke remains a leading cause of long-term disability worldwide, placing a significant burden on individuals, families, and healthcare systems. Advances in neurological rehabilitation play a vital role in improving functional recovery and enhancing quality of life for stroke survivors. This Special Issue, "Clinical Research on Neurological Rehabilitation After Stroke," aims to highlight recent developments, innovative therapeutic approaches, and emerging technologies in stroke rehabilitation. We welcome original clinical studies, randomized controlled trials, case reports, and systematic reviews that address interventions such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, neuromodulation, robotics, virtual reality, and cognitive rehabilitation. Additionally, we encourage submissions focusing on novel assessment tools, biomarkers for recovery prediction, and strategies for personalizing rehabilitation programs. Contributions exploring the integration of multidisciplinary care and long-term community reintegration are also of interest. Through this Special Issue, we seek to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of effective clinical practices in stroke rehabilitation and to foster international collaboration among researchers and clinicians working in this critical field.

Dr. Myoung-Kwon Kim
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Brain Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • stroke rehabilitation
  • neurological recovery
  • physical therapy
  • cognitive rehabilitation
  • neuroplasticity
  • functional outcomes
  • assistive technology
  • virtual reality therapy
  • Parkinson’s disease rehabilitation

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 3372 KB  
Article
Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation During Motor Activity in Healthy Volunteers: A High-Density Diffuse Optical Tomography Study
by Sheharyar S. Baig, Caitlin H. Illingworth, Breanna McQueen, Amy Gibbons, Joanna Ravenscroft, Charlotte Morton, Gavin Brittain, Emilia Butters, Sabrina Di Lonardo Burr, Ali N. Ali, Arshad Majid and Li Su
Brain Sci. 2026, 16(2), 146; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci16020146 - 29 Jan 2026
Viewed by 1220
Abstract
Background: Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability worldwide. Non-invasive or transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) shows promise in promoting neuroplasticity and supporting motor recovery. There are currently no validated biomarkers of taVNS. High-density diffuse optical tomography (HD-DOT) is a portable [...] Read more.
Background: Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability worldwide. Non-invasive or transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) shows promise in promoting neuroplasticity and supporting motor recovery. There are currently no validated biomarkers of taVNS. High-density diffuse optical tomography (HD-DOT) is a portable neuroimaging technology that uses near-infrared light to map cortical activity via the quantification of changes in blood oxygenation. The aim of this study was to determine whether HD-DOT could detect motor task-related activity with concurrent taVNS. Methods: Thirty-one healthy participants completed right and left finger tapping tasks with concurrent sham (earlobe) and then active (tragus) taVNS in a within-subject block design. HD-DOT was recorded across the bilateral sensorimotor cortex using 36 sources and 48 detectors (1728 channels). Cortical reconstructions were parcellated and block-averaged task-related oxygenated and deoxygenated haemoglobin changes were compared between sham and active taVNS conditions. Results: In a group-level analysis, appropriate lateralised task-related haemodynamic responses were seen in the contralateral sensorimotor regions, demonstrating the validity of HD-DOT. Between-group comparisons showed no significant change in task-related activation during right finger tapping tasks under active vs. sham taVNS conditions. A non-significant redistribution of task-related activity to the right motor cortex was seen with left finger tapping under active taVNS compared to sham taVNS. Conclusions: Simultaneous recording of neural responses to taVNS during motor activity was feasible and well tolerated. Reliable task-related activation was recordable. Future studies of whole brain HD-DOT in people with stroke will help evaluate its potential as a biomarker in taVNS. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clinical Research on Neurological Rehabilitation After Stroke)
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26 pages, 2884 KB  
Systematic Review
Effects of Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation Using Sensory Feedback-Based Wearable Devices on the Gait and Balance in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
by Ju-Hak Kim, Myoung-Ho Lee and Myoung-Kwon Kim
Brain Sci. 2026, 16(4), 359; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci16040359 - 26 Mar 2026
Viewed by 610
Abstract
Background: This paper presents a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify the effects of Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS) delivered via wearable devices on the gait and balance in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Method: The PICO criteria were established according to the PRISMA 2020 [...] Read more.
Background: This paper presents a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify the effects of Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS) delivered via wearable devices on the gait and balance in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Method: The PICO criteria were established according to the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, and literature searches were performed across five databases covering studies published between 2015 and 2025: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Scopus, and Web of Science. After applying the inclusion criteria, eleven randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were selected. The quality of the studies was evaluated using the PEDro Scale and ROB-2. Statistical analyses were performed using Review Manager 5.4 based on the number of samples, means, and standard deviations to calculate the effect sizes. Result: The analysis results showed that wearable RAS significantly improved the gait speed (SMD = 0.49, p < 0.05) and balance ability (SMD = 0.40, p < 0.05), while no significant differences in the gait pattern, FOG-Q, or UPDRS-III were observed. The heterogeneity among studies was low, and the funnel plots were distributed symmetrically, indicating minimal publication bias. The average PEDro score was 7.33, suggesting moderate-to-high methodological quality. Conclusion: wearable RAS was identified as an evidence-based intervention effective in improving the gait speed and balance in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clinical Research on Neurological Rehabilitation After Stroke)
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20 pages, 966 KB  
Systematic Review
Effectiveness of AI-Assisted Digital Therapies for Post-Stroke Aphasia Rehabilitation: A Systematic Review
by Yamil Liscano, Lina Marcela Bernal and Jhony Alejandro Díaz Vallejo
Brain Sci. 2025, 15(9), 1007; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15091007 - 18 Sep 2025
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 6060
Abstract
Background: Traditional aphasia therapy is often limited by insufficient dosage, a barrier that AI-assisted digital therapies are poised to overcome. However, it remains unclear whether gains on specific tasks translate to functional, real-world communication. This systematic review evaluates the effectiveness of these novel [...] Read more.
Background: Traditional aphasia therapy is often limited by insufficient dosage, a barrier that AI-assisted digital therapies are poised to overcome. However, it remains unclear whether gains on specific tasks translate to functional, real-world communication. This systematic review evaluates the effectiveness of these novel interventions and investigates the potential for a “generalization gap” when compared to conventional treatments for post-stroke aphasia rehabilitation. Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, we systematically reviewed randomized controlled trials (2010–2024) from six databases. We included studies examining AI-powered digital platforms for adults with chronic post-stroke apha-sia that reported standardized language outcomes. Results: Our analysis of five trials (n = 366) shows that AI-assisted therapies successfully deliver high-dose interventions, leading to significant improvements in trained language skills, including word retrieval (up to 16.4% gain) and auditory comprehension. However, a critical “generalization gap” was consistently identified: these impairment-level gains rarely transferred to functional, real-world communication. Conclusions: AI-assisted digital therapies effectively solve the dosage problem in aphasia care and improve specific linguistic deficits. Their primary limitation is the failure to generalize skills to everyday use. Future platforms must therefore be strategically redesigned to incorporate therapeutic principles that explicitly target the transfer of skills, bridging the gap between clinical improvement and functional communication. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clinical Research on Neurological Rehabilitation After Stroke)
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