ACRONYM:NRET

End date: December 2023

This project belongs to the Agustín de Betancourt program. It has been financed by the Tenerife Island Council under the Tenerife 2030 Strategy, the Island Development Strategic Framework (MEDI) of the Tenerife Island Council, and co-financed by the Canary Islands Development Fund (FDCAN) of the Government of the Canary Islands. 

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS

José Luis González Mora. Professor. Department of Basic Medical Sciences, ULL. 

Rebeca Villarroel Ramírez. Researcher Agustín de Betancourt. Department of Basic Medical Sciences, ULL.  

RESEARCH TEAM

• Cristian Modroño Pascual. Assistant Professor, PhD. Department of Basic Medical Sciences, ULL.
• María Consuelo Revert Gironés. Contracted Professor with a PhD. Department of Physical Medicine and Pharmacology, ULL. 
• Julio Plata Bello. Attending Physician, Neurosurgery Service, HUC; Associate Professor, School of Nursing, ULL. 
• Sergio Elías Hernández Alonso. Full Professor. Department of Industrial Engineering, ULL. 

AIM: To develop a neurorehabilitation system based on the control of virtual limbs by eye tracking and to verify that its use produces changes in brain plasticity, leading to improvements in the motor function of patients with acquired brain damage.

JUSTIFICATION: Nearly half a million people have suffered brain damage in Spain, and the European Union predicts that these figures will increase by 341% by 2035. One of the main consequences of a stroke is the loss of arm mobility, leading to a loss of autonomy for the affected person. Early, intensive, and timely intervention is vital for optimal recovery. This is why the neurochemistry and neuroimaging laboratory at the University of La Laguna is developing a neurorehabilitation gaming platform that produces changes in brain plasticity and allows the activation of motor areas in the brain by controlling virtual elements with eye movements. This neurorehabilitation system allows for a faster recovery of upper limb mobility when used alongside conventional therapy in stroke patients. We hope that:

1. The recovery of motor functions resulting from brain damage is favored by an increase in motor brain activity (Johnson-Frey, 2004).
2. The control of virtual elements by eye tracking produces neural activity that in a large part of the motor regions of the brain is very similar to that which occurs when those elements are controlled by hand (Modroño, 2014; 2015; 2016).
3. Computer games, due to their playful nature, provide fun and entertainment and increase motivation, which favors functional recovery, especially those designed under the multiplayer model, which positively reinforce through social interaction, a possibility that is diminished after a brain injury (Vanacken, 2010).

To learn more about this project, click here. link.