StimuLOOP

Sensorimotor Precision Neurorehabilitation Through Personalized Stimulation Loops

Neuroscience

Problem: Severe gait impairment in patients after stroke or with Parkinson's disease

Goal: Personalized neurorehabilitation that combines sensory stimulation with memory consolidation during sleep

StimuLOOP in a Nutshell

Learning to walk again – in your sleep

Combines real-time visual feedback training with acoustic stimulation during sleep
Helps to firmly anchor newly learned movement patterns after stroke or in Parkinson’s disease
Project leads: Andreas Luft (USZ/cereneo), Roger Gassert (ETH Zurich)

The research team led by Andreas Luft and Roger Gassert is investigating how patients after a stroke or with Parkinson’s disease can improve their gait in a targeted and lasting way. The goal is to precisely capture individual motor deficits and develop personalized rehabilitation strategies that make everyday life easier for those affected.

The StimuLOOP project uses novel technological approaches: a personalized visual feedback method helps patients learn an individually adapted gait pattern. In addition, a combination of targeted acoustic stimuli during sleep is used to stabilize newly learned movement patterns and consolidate them in the long term.

In an early project phase, the various StimuLOOP modules were systematically aligned: a detailed gait analysis, the development of a training setup with realistic visual feedback, and the development of an acoustic stimulation system synchronized with EEG signals during sleep. Disease-specific aspects were also taken into account, such as freezing of gait in patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Significance for Medical Research

StimuLOOP makes a significant contribution to strengthening Zurich as a research hub for translational neurorehabilitation. Its innovative approach of systematically combining personalized neurofeedback and stimulation methods with data-driven analysis, sleep physiology, and clinical research is internationally competitive and positions Zurich as a leading center at the intersection of neuroscience, engineering, and precision medicine.

The project strengthens cross-institutional collaboration between University Hospital Zurich, ETH Zurich, and other partners and contributes substantially to the development of shared methodological standards – particularly in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of complex movement and sleep data. StimuLOOP thus not only opens up new therapeutic perspectives for patients with stroke or Parkinson’s disease but also strengthens Zurich as a high-performing, forward-looking research environment in clinical neurorehabilitation.