title: Functional recovery from chronic writer's cramp by brain-computer interface rehabilitation: a case report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dystonia is often currently treated with botulinum toxin injections to spastic muscles, or deep brain stimulation to the basal ganglia. In addition to these pharmacological or neurosurgical measures, a new noninvasive treatment concept, functional modulation using a brain-computer interface, was tested for feasibility. We recorded electroencephalograms (EEGs) over the bilateral sensorimotor cortex from a patient suffering from chronic writer's cramp. The patient was asked to suppress an exaggerated beta frequency component in the EEG during hand extension.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patient completed biweekly one-hour training for 5 months without any adverse effects. Significant decrease of the beta frequency component during handwriting was confirmed, and was associated with clear functional improvement.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The current pilot study suggests that a brain-computer Interface can give explicit feedback of ongoing cortical excitability to patients with dystonia and allow them to suppress exaggerated neural activity, resulting in functional recovery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Kitami Institute of Technology, Hokkaido, Japan. hashimya@mail.kitami-it.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yasunari
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Tetsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ota
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mukaino
authors.forename: Meigen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Junichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ushiba
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001611:Beta Rhythm / Q000502:physiology; D062207:Brain-Computer Interfaces; D020821:Dystonic Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D004576:Electromyography; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006236:Handwriting; D006801:Humans; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D058765:Neurofeedback / Q000379:methods*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology; D066191:Sensorimotor Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology; D016896:Treatment Outcome