One minute on a platform to discover the real age of the brain and predict neurological diseases. It’s the intelligent posture revolution.
Step on a kind of scale and, in an instant, discover the “true age” of the brain and whether we are at risk of cognitive-motor problems: this will be made possible by the stabilogram developed by Leandro Donisi and Fabrizio Esposito, professor of bioengineering and director of the Cerebral Imaging Laboratory of the Luigi Vanvitelli University of Campania in Naples, and coordinator of Spoke 2 of the Mnesys project.
balance under scrutiny
The idea arises from the awareness that the integrity of the brain’s neuro-motor system determines both aging and related diseases. Evaluating it can therefore give important information on neurological functions, but today the tests measure cognitive or motor activity separately. Esposito explains, «the brain is an integrated system, so we wanted to put together the brain activity data, obtained with an electroencephalogram (EEG), with the motor data acquired from wearable sensors. The test evaluates upright posture, a very sophisticated characteristic of our species: only we are able to maintain it.” What keeps us stable is a continuous dialogue between spontaneous brain activity and motor coordination: the Mnesys researchers’ method allows us to measure both by remaining still for a minute on a platform, with eyes first open and then closed, while the EEG and data from the sensors placed on the body, which measure movement and activity of the muscles, are recorded.
The Mnesys stabilogram
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«The test evaluates the oscillations of the body’s center of mass and how these synchronize with brain activity, thus also estimating the connectivity and efficiency of different cognitive and motor areas», says Esposito. «In one minute we have the “brain signature” of the posture and we can evaluate alterations that would not be noticeable to the naked eye, but which can be the first sign of various pathologies».
The encouraging results of the first studies are being confirmed on a greater number of people; the objective is to bring the test to the clinic because «it is simple, non-invasive, rapid and can provide substantial information for the diagnosis of neurological diseases but also to evaluate the response to treatments or best plan rehabilitation. The system can then be enhanced in its investigative capabilities, because for example it is possible to integrate it with already existing sensors, such as those of skin conductivity, which evaluate emotional reactions, or those of eye movements, which are modified for example in the case of Parkinson’s”, concludes Esposito.
