Researcher's brainwave benefits stroke patients, absentminded

A Dublin researcher has brought about "startling improvements" in stroke patients by encouraging the brain to create new circuits and connections, making new areas take over for damaged ones. He has also learned how to reliably measure a person's level of absent-mindedness.

Prof Ian H. Robertson, professor of psychology at Trinity College, studies the electrical signals that occur in the brain when we think or respond to senses such as sight and touch. He has shown in human trials that it is possible to change and improve brain function after stimulation by certain sensory inputs.

The work is referred to as "cognitive neuroscience" and involves examining how stimulation affects the brain. "We can reliably activate malfunctioning circuits in the brain," he said. He was "studying the software of the brain to find how best to provide these inputs. There is tremendous potential for brain plasticity around injury".

Stroke damage to the right side of the brain causes an impairment of movement to the left side of the body, he said. It was usually assumed that this damage was permanent, but in preliminary clinical trials he had demonstrated "startling improvements" in these patients after controlled stimulation through movement of limbs on the left side.

A larger, random trial had since been completed and was awaiting publication, and these results were also promising, he added. His research group had also developed a device which automated these movements to help speed up the creation of new brain connections.

"We are now extending this to look at concentration and absentmindedness," he explained. In effect he is showing that old dogs really can learn new tricks faster and more efficiently if they exercise their brains.

He and colleagues had developed a laboratory-based system to measure absent-mindedness, which was "the cause of a large number of accidents". It occurred when "the brain drifts on to automatic pilot", causing momentary concentration losses.

"The suggestion is there are some physical changes in the brain with ageing, but the rate of decline is dependent on how much stimulation for the brain functions but also how much stress, because stress has a corrosive effect on these functions."

The research group had found there was a wide variation in the level of absent-mindedness, and this was not exclusively linked to age. His goal was to develop ways to control loss of attention in the naturally absent-minded or those with brain damage by improving brain function.

They had already found ways to do this in the lab and were working on clinical applications. "I am primarily interested in applying the best neuroscience to clinical problems," he said. This could lead to a reduction in the use of drugs to control symptoms.