Faculty member publishes paper on neuroscience rehab measures

Dr. Stanislaw Solnik, University of North Georgia (UNG) associate professor and research director in the physical therapy department, recently published a peer-reviewed paper on how neuroscience tools can help physical therapists better understand patients' progress in rehabilitation.

The article appeared as a "Point of View/Directions for Research" publication in the prestigious journal Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair.

Solnik said most measures of recovery are merely functional, like whether a patient can put her arm above her head. The research, published by Solnik along with researchers from Northeastern University in Boston and McGill University in Montreal, Canada, digs deeper to justify and provide evidence to clinical practice.

"Functional measures are not sensitive enough to measure underlying problems," Solnik said. "We need to have these high-sensitivity research tools based on neuroscience."

He said these neuroscience measures of motor disorders are similar to bloodwork in a general practitioner's toolkit. They are also based on the knowledge of underlying pathologies.

Solnik has also received invitations to present this research at Washington University and Penn State University.

The project was funded in part by a Presidential Summer Incentive Award that Solnik received in 2017.