EEG hyperscanning in motor rehabilitation: a position paper

J NeuroEngineering Rehabil, 2021 · DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-021-00892-6 · Published: June 1, 2021

Neuroimaging Neurology Neurorehabilitation

Simple Explanation

Hyperscanning (HS) is a technique used to measure brain activity from two or more individuals simultaneously. Thus far, HS has primarily focused on healthy participants during social interactions in order to characterize inter-brain dynamics. This paper advocates for expanding the use of electroencephalography hyperscanning (EEG-HS) technique to rehabilitation paradigms in individuals with neurological diagnoses, namely stroke, spinal cord injury (SCI), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and traumatic brain injury (TBI). EEG-HS in patient populations with impaired motor function is particularly relevant and could provide additional insight on neural dynamics, optimizing rehabilitation strategies for each individual patient.

Study Duration

Not specified

Participants

Not specified

Evidence Level

Level 5, Commentary

Key Findings

1
Inter-brain synchronization may not exclusively depend on the precise execution of a particular movement, suggesting that self-determined engagement during gestural imitation is more informative.
2
Inter-brain synchronization can be enhanced over time through exercises that focus on cooperation between dyads, with increased connections in areas such as the inferior frontal gyrus and anterior cingulate.
3
Musical roles of leader and follower can be associated with asymmetric periods of phasing locking at the frontal and central electrodes during musical performance.

Research Summary

This paper proposes an approach to study EEG-HS in different patient populations, such as stroke, spinal cord injury (SCI), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and traumatic brain injury (TBI). The authors address different combinations of dyads during motor rehabilitation such as Patient–Patient, Patient–Therapist, Patient–Healthy and Patient–Machine. The paper focuses only on EEG-HS because of its high temporal resolution, affordability and high mobility in comparison to other neuroimaging techniques such as functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), or magnetoencephalography (MEG).

Practical Implications

Personalized Rehabilitation Strategies

EEG-HS could provide additional insight on neural dynamics, optimizing rehabilitation strategies for each individual patient.

Group Therapy Optimization

Identifying smaller groups within a larger group based on increased measures of inter-brain synchronization has the potential to create more effective, synergistic training groups.

Real-Time Diagnostic Tool

Developing technology for monitoring brain activity between patients has the potential to identify dyads that optimize both behavioral and inter-brain synchrony, serving as a real-time diagnostic tool for monitoring patients’ engagement and cognitive state.

Study Limitations

1
The heterogeneity of lesions in neurological diagnoses involving brain injuries (i.e., stroke, TBI) makes it more challenging to directly compare results across patients.
2
Because applications involve tasks requiring high mobility in many cases, the influence of muscle and motion artifacts on EEG signals should be considered.
3
Similar phenomena in brain activity can occur independently in subjects irrespective of the interaction being studied, potentially leading to spurious inter-brain synchronization.

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