CAREER: Novel human-in-the loop approach to increase locomotor learning.

康复机器人技术中的一个主要问题是，在日常生活中，即当患者不使用训练设备时，没有观察到使用机器人设备训练后的运动改善。机器人训练的这种有限功效可能是由于患者使用该设备时经历的非自然人机交互。这个教师早期职业发展（CAREER）计划项目调查了机器人辅助的运动学习在有和没有大脑病变的人。其目的是通过确定如何最大限度地推广从训练到未训练条件下的学习，以提高有效的步态康复中风后。PI还将利用该项目的研究目标作为一种手段，以增加来自代表性不足的少数民族（URM）的学生在科学和工程方面的参与。具体来说，PI将招募，指导和准备URM学生从K-12和大学追求高等教育，以扩大URM学生的职业机会的最终目标。分裂带步行，在此期间，腿以不同的速度移动，已被证明可以诱导中风后患者和无神经损伤的受试者的运动学习。在此，PI将确定是否可以改变这两个人群中的分带式跑步机上的学习阶段，以增强从跑步机到自然行走的学习运动的泛化。该研究使用了一种人在回路的方法，该方法操纵受试者感知的步态对称性，以创造在分裂带行走期间无错误表现的错觉。通过这种闭环方法，PI旨在确定如何增强在跑步机上学习到的运动到非跑步机条件的泛化。如果成功的话，该项目将对中风后的步态康复程序产生变革性的影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

A major issue in rehabilitation robotics is the fact that motor improvements following training with a robotic device are not observed in daily life, that is, when patients are not using the training device. This limited efficacy of robotic training is possibly due to unnatural human-machine interactions experienced when patients use the device. This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program project investigates robot-assisted motor learning in people with and without brain lesions. The aim is to improve effective gait rehabilitation after stroke by determining how to maximize generalization of learning from trained to untrained conditions. The PI will also use the research objectives in this project as a means to increase the participation of students from underrepresented minorities (URM) in science and engineering. Specifically, the PI will recruit, mentor, and prepare URM students from K-12 and college to pursue advanced education, with the ultimate goal of broadening the professional opportunities for URM students. Split-belt walking, during which the legs move at different speeds, has been shown to induce locomotor learning in post-stroke patients and subjects without neurological damage. Here the PI will determine if the learning phase on the split-belt treadmill in these two populations can be altered to enhance the generalization of learned movements from the treadmill to natural walking. The research uses a human-in-the-loop method that manipulates a subject's perceived gait symmetry to create the illusion of error-free performance during split-belt walking. Through this closed-loop approach, the PI aims to identify ways to enhance the generalization of movements learned on the treadmill to non-treadmill conditions. If successful, the project could have a transformative effect on procedures for gait rehabilitation after stroke.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.