Towards physiologically-informed rehabilitation therapies

Stroke is very common and stroke survivors say that learning to use their hands again is a top priority. However, current treatments are not good enough. This fellowship will provide the information needed to develop new ways to help improve hand function. I will use animal models and studies in healthy adults to understand how communication between brain cells changes as we gain motor skills, such as hand function. I will then use this information to develop non-invasive ways to drive this communication both within and between brain areas known to be important for learning motor skills. I will test which approach most improves learning. Finally, I will apply what I have learnt to improve hand use in stroke survivors. This work will allow us to understand how the brain changes when we learn to use our hands and to design new therapies to help maximise rehabilitation in stroke survivors.