脑机接口首次被证实：显著提升脊髓损伤患者下肢运动能力

Core Insights - The exploration of clinical applications related to brain-computer interfaces (BCI) is gaining traction in multiple hospitals across the country, with neurorehabilitation being a prominent area of focus [1] - A recent randomized controlled clinical study from Sun Yat-sen University Third Hospital provides preliminary evidence that BCI significantly enhances rehabilitation outcomes compared to traditional methods [3] Group 1: Clinical Research Findings - The study published in the prestigious journal Annals of Neurology confirms that BCI-controlled exoskeleton training significantly improves lower limb motor abilities and depressive symptoms in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) [3] - The research systematically evaluates the dual role of BCI-controlled lower limb exoskeleton training in motor function recovery and cortical plasticity reconstruction for SCI patients [3] - Initial results indicate that SCI patients, even in early recovery stages, exhibit good neural interface adaptability, with BCI control accuracy reaching 95.2% and response times as short as 1.15 seconds, comparable to healthy controls [3] Group 2: Intervention Outcomes - After a 4-week intervention, the BCI-controlled exoskeleton training group (B+E) showed significantly better outcomes in key functional indicators such as lower extremity muscle strength (LEMS), walking speed (10MWT), walking endurance (6MWT), and depression scores (HADS-D) compared to the exoskeleton-only group (E) [5] - Electrophysiological analysis revealed significant enhancements in event-related desynchronization (ERD) in the μ/β band within the midline motor cortex region (FCz-Cz-CPz) for the B+E group, indicating structural remodeling of cortical networks [6] Group 3: Mechanism of Action - Unlike traditional passive training, the BCI system establishes a closed-loop pathway through real-time decoding of movement intentions and driving gait execution, significantly enhancing patients' subjective sense of participation in gait control [9] - This study provides the first evidence supporting the efficacy of BCI-controlled exoskeleton training over traditional methods in improving motor and emotional disorders in SCI patients, proposing a novel rehabilitation strategy centered on "brain-controlled driving and neural remodeling" [9] Group 4: Research Collaboration and Funding - The research was led by a team from Sun Yat-sen University Third Hospital in collaboration with Xi'an Jiaotong University, with multiple authors contributing to the study [10] - The study received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation and key research and development projects in Guangzhou [10]