One in four people suffer from a stroke over a lifetime (World Stroke Org). In Belgium, every year, >20.000 persons are victim of a stroke. Up to 80% of stroke survivors suffer from hemiparesis, i.e. the loss of voluntary motor control, which is particularly devastating when involving the upper limb. Indeed, hemiparesis impairs bimanual skills in daily life activities through lack of synchronization and slowness, impairments in forces and motor control.
Neurorehabilitation aims to help patients recovering but is based on fragmentary knowledge: how the injured human brain (re-)learns these (bimanual) skills remains largely unknown. A better understanding of the processes underlying recovery and motor learning is thus of paramount importance.
Our research aims are to explore
- The physiological bases of motor control and motor learning after stroke and in healthy individuals.
- How motor learning contributes to recovery after stroke.
- How to enhance motor learning and recovery after stroke through innovative methods such as robotics, neuromodulation, virtual reality, etc.
Methods:
- Robotics: quantitative behavioural analysis in healthy individuals and stroke patients, neurorehabilitation through interactive robotics & serious games. REA²PLAN® (AXINESIS / Louvain Bionics (UCLouvain)) and Dextrain Manipulandum®
- Functional MRI (fMRI): Activation fMRI, resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI), quantitative volumetric brain analysis (VLSM), Diffusion-Weighted Imaging (DWI)
- Kinematic analysis of movements. Recording and analysis of kinematic data in stroke patients (CODAmotion)
Team members
Principal Investigator
PhD students
Collaborations
- Pr Dr Thierry Lejeune. CCL promotor, expert in neurorehabilitation, member of Louvain Bionics. Cliniques Universitaires St Luc UCL, Rehabilitation Department / NMSK (Neuro Musculo SKeletal) lab.
- Dr Ir Laurence Dricot. MRI - fMRI expert at the IoNS, member of Louvain Bionics, manager of the Neuroimaging platform (NIMA).
- Pr Dr Martin Gareth Edwards. Member of Louvain Bionics. IoNS / IPSY, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences SSH/IPSY, Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Psy-NAPS.
- Pr Dr Yannick Bleyenheuft. Member of Louvain Bionics. IoNS / Faculté des sciences de la motricité. Systems & Cognitive Neuroscience (COSY).
- Pr Ir Dr Frédéric Crèvecoeur. Member of Louvain Bionics. IoNS / SST/EPL/ICTM (Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, Electronics and Applied Mathematics) /INMA (Pôle en ingénierie mathématique).
- Pr MD Thierry Deltombe. Expert in neurorehabilitation. Rehabilitation Department / IoNS.
- Pr Ir Dr Benoît Herman. Member of Louvain Bionics. SST/EPL - Ecole Polytechnique de Louvain/ IMMC - Institute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering / Mechatronic Electrical Energy & Dynamic systems (MEED).
- Pr Ir Dr Benoît Macq. Member of Louvain Bionics. SST/EPL - Ecole Polytechnique de Louvain/ ICTM Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, Electronics and Applied Mathematics / ELEN Pôle en ingénierie électrique.
- Pr Ir Dr Bruno Dehez: Member of Louvain Bionics. SST/EPL - Ecole Polytechnique de Louvain/ IMMC - Institute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering / Mechatronic Electrical Energy & Dynamic systems (MEED).
- Pr Ir Dr Renaud Ronsse. Member of Louvain Bionics. Institute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering (IMMC). Mechatronic, Electrical Energy, and Dynamic Systems. IoNS.
- Dr Ir Julien Sapin. Long-term collaborator of the AXINESIS spin-out. Formerly SST/EPL-IMMC and LOUVAIN BIONICS.
- Pr Dr Pavel Lindberg. Expert in neuroscience and neurorehabilitation, inventor of the Dextrain Manipulandum®. INSERM (French National Health and Medical Research Institute) at the Institute of Psychiatry & Neuroscience of Paris (IPNP - U1266). Paris, France.
- Pr Dr Geert Verheyden. Expert in neuroscience and neurorehabilitation. KULeuven, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences. Leuven, Belgium.
Ongoing Projects
- Motor Learning in Acute Stroke 3
- Motor Learning in Acute Stroke 4 - bimanual
- MICROMOTO
- NT0: Nervus Terminalis, the cranial nerve 0
Key publications
- Gerardin E, Regnier M, Dricot L, Lambert J, van Ravestyn C, De Coene B, Bihin B, Lindberg P, Vandermeeren Y. Dexterity in the Acute Phase of Stroke: Impairments and Neural Substrates. Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2024 Mar;38(3):229-239. https://doi.org/10.1177/15459683241230029. IF: 4.2.
- Gathy E, Cadiat N, Gerardin E, Lambert J, Herman B, Leeuwerck M, Bihin B, Vandermeeren Y. Bimanual coordinated motor skill learning in patients with a chronic cerebellar stroke. Exp Brain Res. 2024 Jun;242(6):1517-1531. doi: 10.1007/s00221-024-06830-x IF:
- Riga A, Gathy E, Ghinet M, De Laet C, Bihin B, Regnier M, Leeuwerck M, De Coene B, Dricot L, Herman B, Edwards MG, Vandermeeren Y. Evidence of Motor Skill Learning in Acute Stroke Patients Without Lesions to the Thalamus and Internal Capsule. Stroke. 2022;53(7):2361-2368. DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.121.035494. IF: 8.032 (5-year IF)
- Gerardin E, Bontemps D, Babuin NT, Herman B, Denis A, Bihin B, Regnier M, Leeuwerck M, Deltombe T, Riga A, Vandermeeren Y. Bimanual motor skill learning with robotics in chronic stroke: comparison between minimally impaired and moderately impaired patients, and healthy individuals. J Neuroeng Rehabil. 2022 Mar 17;19(1):28. DOI: 10.1186/s12984-022-01009-3. IF: 5.216 (5-year IF)
- Yeganeh Doost M, Orban de Xivry JJ, Herman B, Vanthournhout L, Riga A, Bihin B, Jamart J, Laloux P, Raymackers JM, Vandemeeren Y. Learning a Bimanual Cooperative Skill in Chronic Stroke Under Noninvasive Brain Stimulation: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Neurorehabilation Neural Repair. 2019;33(6):486-498. DOI: 10.1177/1545968319847963. IF: 3.757.
- Lefebvre S, Dricot L., Gradkowski W, Laloux P, Peeters A, Desfontaines P, Jamart J, Vandermeeren Y. Increased functional connectivity one week after motor learning and tDCS in stroke patients. Neuroscience. 2017. Jan 6;340: 424-435. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.10.066. IF 3.231.
- Lefebvre S, Dricot L., Gradkowski W, Laloux P, Peeters A, Desfontaines P, Jamart J, Vandermeeren Y. Neural substrates underlying motor skill learning in chronic hemiparetic stroke patients. Front Hum Neurosci. 2015 9:320 (03 June) DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00320. IF: 3.634, Front Hum Neurosci metrics: views & download: 6979, views: 5430, pdf downloads: 1549.
- Lefebvre S, Dricot L, Laloux P, Gradkowski W, Desfontaines Ph, Evrard F, Peeters A, Jamart J, Vandermeeren Y. Neural substrates underlying stimulation-enhanced motor skill learning after stroke. Brain. 2015 Jan;138(Pt 1):149-63. DOI: 10.1093/brain/awu336. IF: 9.196, 5-years IF: 10.846 | Ranking: (SI) Clinical Neurology: 6 out of 194; (SI) Neurosciences: 12 out of 251.
- Lefebvre S, Thonnard J-L, Laloux P, Peeters A, Jamart J, Vandermeeren Y. Single session of dual-tDCS transiently improves precision grip and dexterity of the paretic hand after stroke. Neurorehabilitation & Neural Repair 2014 Feb; 28(2):100-10. DOI: 10.1177/1545968313478485. IF: 4.617 | 5-Year Impact Factor: 4.877 | Ranking: Rehabilitation (SCI) 1 out of 63 | Clinical Neurology 25 out of 194.
- Lefebvre S, Dricot L, Grandkowski W, Laloux P, Vandermeeren Y. Brain activations underlying different patterns of performance improvement during early motor skill learning. NeuroImage 2012; 62(1):290-299. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.04.052. IF: 6.252