The Neuro-Mechanical Modeling and Engineering Lab (NMLab) at the University of Twente invites applications for a 3-year postdoctoral position funded by the ERC Consolidator Grant ROBOREACTOR. This is an exciting opportunity to join a cutting-edge team at the intersection of neurophysiology, biomechanics, and rehabilitation robotics. As a postdoctoral researcher in this project, you will work on breakthrough technology for non-invasive biopsies of skeletal muscles, specifically targeting the lower limbs. You will employ high-density electromyography (HD-EMG) and ultrasonography, combined with advanced statistical and machine learning techniques, to characterize muscle properties at multiple scales. Key focuses include motor unit phenotype distribution, 3D muscle fascicle morphology, and muscle inflammation levels. You will validate these non-invasive measurements against invasive biopsy samples and advanced imaging techniques, working with both healthy individuals and post-stroke survivors in the context of rehabilitation robotics and regenerative robotics technologies.

Spatial neglect is a syndrome that is most frequently associated with damage to the right hemisphere, although damage to the left hemisphere can also result in signs of spatial neglect. It is characterised by absent or deficient awareness of the contralesional side of space. The screening and diagnosis of spatial neglect lacks a universal gold standard, but is usually achieved by using various modes of assessment. Spatial neglect is also difficult to treat, although prism adaptation training (PAT) has in the past reportedly showed some promise. This seminar will include highlights from a series of studies designed to identify knowledge gaps, and will suggest ways in which these can be bridged. The first study was conducted to identify and quantify clinicians’ use of assessment tools for spatial neglect, finding that several different tools are in use, but that there is an emerging consensus and appetite for harmonisation. The second study included PAT, and sought to uncover whether PAT can improve engagement in recommended therapy in order to improve the outcomes of stroke survivors with spatial neglect. The final study, a systematic review and meta-analysis, sought to investigate the scientific efficacy (rather than clinical effectiveness) of PAT, identifying several knowledge gaps in the existing literature and a need for a new approach in the study of PAT in the clinical setting.