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Open Access Research Article Issue
Enhancing Attention Network Spatiotemporal Dynamics for Motor Rehabilitation in Parkinson’s Disease
Cyborg and Bionic Systems 2025, 6: 0293
Published: 19 June 2025
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Optimizing resource allocation for Parkinson’s disease (PD) motor rehabilitation necessitates identifying biomarkers of responsiveness and dynamic neuroplasticity signatures underlying efficacy. A cohort study of 52 early-stage PD patients undergoing 2-week multidisciplinary intensive rehabilitation therapy (MIRT) was conducted, which stratified participants into responders and nonresponders. A multimodal analysis of resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) microstates and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) coactivation patterns was performed to characterize MIRT-induced spatiotemporal network reorganization. Responders demonstrated clinically meaningful improvement in motor symptoms, exceeding the minimal clinically important difference threshold of 3.25 on the Unified PD Rating Scale part Ⅲ, alongside significant reductions in bradykinesia and a significant enhancement in quality-of-life scores at the 3-month follow-up. Resting-state EEG in responders showed a significant attenuation in microstate C and a significant enhancement in microstate D occurrences, along with significantly increased transitions from microstate A/B to D, which significantly correlated with motor function, especially in bradykinesia gains. Concurrently, fMRI analyses identified a prolonged dwell time of the dorsal attention network coactivation/ventral attention network deactivation pattern, which was significantly inversely associated with microstate C occurrence and significantly linked to motor improvement. The identified brain spatiotemporal neural markers were validated using machine learning models to assess the efficacy of MIRT in motor rehabilitation for PD patients, achieving an average accuracy rate of 86%. These findings suggest that MIRT may facilitate a shift in neural networks from sensory processing to higher-order cognitive control, with the dynamic reallocation of attentional resources. This preliminary study validates the necessity of integrating cognitive–motor strategies for the motor rehabilitation of PD and identifies novel neural markers for assessing treatment efficacy.

Open Access Editorial Issue
Synergizing Brain-Computer Interfaces, Machine Learning-enhanced Image Processing, and Big Data: A Triad for the Future of Neuroscience
Brain Science Advances 2024, 10(1): 1-4
Published: 05 March 2024
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Open Access Research Article Issue
Multimodal biofeedback for Parkinson’s disease motor and nonmotor symptoms
Brain Science Advances 2023, 9(2): 136-154
Published: 05 June 2023
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Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor retardation, myotonia, quiescent tremor, and postural gait abnormality, as well as nonmotor symptoms such as anxiety and depression. Biofeedback improves motor and nonmotor functions of patients by regulating abnormal electroencephalogram (EEG), electrocardiogram (ECG), photoplethysmography (PPG), electromyography (EMG), respiration (RSP), or other physiological signals. Given that multimodal signals are closely related to PD states, the clinical effect of multimodal biofeedback on patients with PD is worth exploring. Twenty-one patients with PD in Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital were enrolled and divided into three groups: multimodal (EEG, ECG, PPG, and RSP feedback signal), EEG (EEG feedback signal), and sham (random feedback signal), and they received biofeedback training five times in two weeks. The combined clinical scale and multimodal signal analysis results revealed that the EEG group significantly improved motor symptoms and increased Berg balance scale scores by regulating β band activity; the multimodal group significantly improved nonmotor symptoms and reduced Hamilton rating scale for depression scores by improving θ band activity. Our preliminary results revealed that multimodal biofeedback can improve the clinical symptoms of PD, but the regulation effect on motor symptoms is weaker than that of EEG biofeedback.

Open Access Research Article Issue
Cortico–subcortical spatiotemporal dynamics in Parkinson’s disease can be modulated by transcranial alternating current stimulation
Brain Science Advances 2023, 9(2): 114-135
Published: 05 June 2023
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<i>Objective</i>:

We investigated changes in cortico–subcortical spatiotemporal dynamics to explore the treatment mechanisms of transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD).

<i>Methods</i>:

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data were collected from 20 patients with PD and 20 normal controls (NC). Each patient with PD received successive multidisciplinary intensive rehabilitation treatment and tACS treatment over a one-year interval. Individual functional brain network mapping and co-activation pattern (CAP) analysis were performed to characterize cortico–subcortical dynamics.

<i>Results</i>:

The same tACS electrode placement stimulated different proportions of functional brain networks across the participants. CAP analysis revealed that the visual network, attentional network, and default mode network co-activated with the thalamus, accumbens, and amygdala, respectively. The pattern characterized by the de-activation of the visual network and the activation of the thalamus showed a significantly low amplitude in the patients with PD than in NCs, and this amplitude increased after tACS treatment. Furthermore, the co-occurrence of cortico–subcortical CAPs was significantly higher in patients with PD than in NCs and decreased after tACS treatment.

<i>Conclusions</i>:

This study investigated cortico–subcortical spatiotemporal dynamics in patients with PD and further revealed the tACS treatment mechanism. These findings contribute to understanding cortico–subcortical dynamics and exploring noninvasive neuromodulation targets of cortico–subcortical circuits in brain diseases, such as PD, Alzheimer’s disease, and depression.

Editorial Issue
Multi-modal neuroimaging technique: Innovations and applications
Brain Science Advances 2023, 9(2): 53-55
Published: 05 June 2023
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Downloads:88
Open Access Review Article Issue
Review of brain–computer interface based on steady-state visual evoked potential
Brain Science Advances 2022, 8(4): 258-275
Published: 30 November 2022
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The brain–computer interface (BCI) technology has received lots of attention in the field of scientific research because it can help disabled people improve their quality of life. Steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) is the most researched BCI experimental paradigm, which offers the advantages of high signal-to-noise ratio and short training-time requirement by users. In a complete BCI system, the two most critical components are the experimental paradigm and decoding algorithm. However, a systematic combination of the SSVEP experimental paradigm and decoding algorithms is missing in existing studies. In the present study, the transient visual evoked potential, SSVEP, and various improved SSVEP paradigms are compared and analyzed, and the problems and development bottlenecks in the experimental paradigm are finally pointed out. Subsequently, the canonical correlation analysis and various improved decoding algorithms are introduced, and the opportunities and challenges of the SSVEP decoding algorithm are discussed.

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