KITE | Neurorehabilitation & Neuroscience Team

Neurorehabilitation & Neuroscience Team

Our Focus

The Neurorehabilitation & Neuroscience Team has more than 30 Senior Scientists, Scientists, and Affiliate Scientists. Each scientist leads a research lab of students and staff. Being one of the largest teams at KITE, the research conducted by the “Neuro Team” covers a wide range of research areas, including neural regeneration and restoration (limb rehab, tissue regeneration), cognition and emotion (neurodegeneration, mood), sensation and perception (multisensory integration, motion sickness), speech (aphasia, dysarthria), swallowing (dysphagia), sleep, and mobility (fall prevention, balance/gait, driving). The team’s research focuses on both people with health conditions (stroke, dementia, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson’s disease) and healthy adults. The team uses a wide variety of tools, including neuroimaging and neurophysiology, telerehabilitation, AI and deep learning, computer vision and robotics, Virtual Reality and simulation technologies, wearable and assistive devices, music therapy and neural entrainment, and functional electrical stimulation, and community exercise programs, to help people improve their function and prevent injury.

Our Goals

Research in the Neuro Team research aims to improve quality of life and well-being. Our goals are to improve function via innovative and novel rehabilitation solutions and to prevent injury and illness from occurring in the first place.

Ongoing Studies

Investigating the effects of aging and age-related hearing loss on driving performance (Dr. Jennifer Campos)

A population-based birth cohort study of traumatic brain injury across the lifespan and continuum of healthcare (Dr. Vincy Chan)

Optimizing VR: using tactile cues to reduce the occurrence of motion sickness in virtual environments (Dr. Behrang Keshavarz)

Decoding brain-machine interfaces using deep learning (Dr. Brokoslaw Laschowski)

Developing and testing a prototype smart sock designed to help individuals at risk of development of diabetic foot ulcer (Dr. Sophia Yue Li, Dr. Hani Naguib, Dr. Sharon Gabison)

Investigating the control of standing posture (Dr. Kei Masani)

A PROGRESS-driven approach to cognitive outcomes after traumatic brain injury: a study protocol for advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion through knowledge synthesis and mobilization (Dr. Tatyana Mollayeva)

Design and implementation of novel multimodal electrodes to activate neural stem cells and promote neural repair following stroke (Dr. Cindi Morshead)

Does an acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) compromise dual task performance and contribute to falls? (Dr. Darlene Reid)

Development of a Novel Wearable Intraoral Device for Non-Invasive Obstructive Sleep Apnea Therapy (Dr. Zia Saadatnia)

Together In Movement and Exercise (TIME™): a community-based program welcoming people with balance and mobility challenges to exercise (Dr. Nancy Salbach)

Multisensory Virtual Reality Experience: testing a new interactive and immersive VR paradigm (Dr. Raheleh Saryazdi)

How does therapy for post-stroke language deficits work? (Dr. Tijana Simic)

Establishing Reference Values and Clinical Decision Points for Quantitative Videofluoroscopic Measures of Swallowing (Dr. Catriona Steele)

Investigating the influence of repeated action observation and motor imagery on the cortical representation of action (Dr. Timothy Welsh)

A novel tool for the assessment of bulbar dysfunction in ALS (Dr. Yana Yunusova)

Upcoming Events

June, 2024 - Introduction rounds

September, 2024 - Next team meeting

Past Events

December, 2023 - Kick off meeting

April, 2024 - Quarterly team meeting

Recent Publications Highlights

Biscardi M, Grossinger Z, Colantonio A, Bayley M, Mollayeva T. Rehabilitation interventions for oculomotor deficits in adults with mild traumatic brain injury: a systematic review protocol. BMJ Open. 2023 Sep 15;13(9):e072786. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-072786. PMID: 37714680; PMCID: PMC10510912.

Bercovitch D, Reppas-Rindlisbacher A, Mulvihill S, Ng H, Patel S, Sum B, Aitken L, O’Neill M, Salbach NM, Aravind G. Losing ground following community exercise program closures: A qualitative descriptive study of the impact of COVID-19 related pandemic restrictions on exercise participation, physical activity, and health of older adults with balance and mobility limitations. Physiotherapy Canada. 2024. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3138/ptc-2023-0049.

Green REA, Monettes G, Rybkina J, Dabek M, Changoor A, Colella B. Moderate-Severe TBI as a Progressive Disorder: Patterns and Predictors of Cognitive Declines in the Chronic Stages of Injury. Journal of Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. 2023 Dec; 37 (11-12): 799-809. PMID: 37990972.

Keshavarz B, Adams MS, Gabriel G, Sergio LE, Campos JL. Concussion can increase the risk of visually induced motion sickness. Neurosci Lett. 2024 May 1;830:137767. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2024.137767. Epub 2024 Apr 8. PMID: 38599370.

Kurbis AG, Mihailidis A, Laschowski B. Development and Mobile Deployment of a Stair Recognition System for Human–Robot Locomotion. IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics, 6(1), pp. 271-280, Feb. 2024, doi: 10.1109/TMRB.2024.3349602.

Livingston J, Lee T, Enbar T, Emerson D, Phillips, C, Krassikova, A, Bang, K. Kortebi I, Donville B, Ibragimov O, Sachewsky N, Lozano Casasbuenas D, Olfat, A, Morshead C. Ectopic Expression of Neurod1 Is Sufficient for Functional Recovery following a Sensory–Motor Cortical Stroke. Biomedicines. 2024 12. 663. 10.3390/biomedicines12030663.

Mochizuki G, Dang N, Inness EL, Chandra T, Foster E, Comper P, Bayley M, Danells C. Measurement Properties of the Activities-Specific Balance Confidence Scale in Adults From the General Population With Concussion: A Report From the Toronto Concussion Study. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2024; Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003999324009912.

Simmatis LER, Robin J, Spilka MJ, Yunusova Y. Detecting bulbar amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using automatic acoustic analysis. BioMedical Engineering. 2024;23(1):15. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12938-023-01174-z.

Smaoui S, Peladeau-Pigeon M, Mancopes R, Sutton D, Richardson D, Steele C. Tongue Pressure Resistance Training for Post-Stroke Dysphagia: A Case Study. Folia Phoniatr Logop. 2024 Apr 4. doi: 10.1159/000538717. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38574489.

Tian Y, Saradhi S, Bello E, Johnson MD, D'Eleuterio G, Popovic MR, Lankarany M. Model-based closed-loop control of thalamic deep brain stimulation. Front Netw Physiol. 2024 Apr 8;4:1356653. doi: 10.3389/fnetp.2024.1356653. PMID: 38650608; PMCID: PMC11033853.