From brain signal propagation to functional understanding understanding
Stroke is the main cause of disability for adults. In the Netherlands alone, the costs of stroke are estimated at 2.3 billion euro per year. To continue providing optimal rehabilitation care after stroke, two key questions need to be answered. Firstly, “what are an individual patient’s possibilities for his/her recovery?” and secondly, “what is the best rehabilitation care this patient should receive given these possibilities?”.
To be able to properly distinguish patients early after a stroke on the basis of recovery potential requires knowledge of underlying recovery processes. The current project aims to make a breakthrough in this by making real-time signal transport in the brain visible for the first time from brain waves (EEG). This will enable us to better understand and make use of the adaptive capacity of the brain (“neuroplasticity”) in treatment.