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The NeuroGym® concept was
established more than 20 years ago by founder Avi Nativ PhD PT. While doing his
doctoral and post-doctoral research work in Kinesiology (the science of human
movement) at the University of Waterloo, Dr. Nativ's focus was on brain
organization, plasticity and rehabilitation. He was intrigued with scientific
research findings that indicated the remarkable capacity of the brain to adapt
after injury, and envisioned how such plastic changes could be encouraged
through inventive ways of enabling more patient-initiated, active movement
rather than the more conventional passive therapy approaches.
The NeuroGym® approach to therapy,
then, was developed through a synthesis of research findings in human motor
learning and motor control, biomechanics, physiology of exercise and
rehabilitation medicine. It developed as a practical implementation of these
research findings. After obtaining his clinical qualifications as a registered
physiotherapist, Dr. Nativ began his life-long pursuit of creating more
effective neurologic physiotherapy tools and techniques.
Thus, long before techniques such
as "harness assisted treadmill training" or virtual reality were even imagined,
Dr. Nativ was developing these tools for use in his neurological physiotherapy
practice. Unfortunately, advances in theoretical research, both in movement
science and brain plasticity have been very slow in impact on mainstream
clinical practice. As a result, many within the conventional field of
rehabilitation were very much against actively retraining and strengthening
someone with an acquired brain injury or stroke, for instance. Many therapists
did not have an understanding of the physiology of exercise, and were unaware of
basic research findings relating to exercise after stroke or the requirements
for creating effective motor relearning.
Despite opposition from many
conventional therapists, Dr. Nativ pursued his research and development and has
created a line of rehabilitation tools and techniques that have been providing
wonderful opportunities for those with neurologic injuries (even years
post-acute) to continue to improve their functional independence and motor
skills. For example, the patented
NeuroGym® Trainer interfaces muscle or
balance signals with video games, allowing extremely effective biofeedback
training of everything from fine finger control to gross balance tasks (in
essence a clinical Wii). To help re-learn the standing motion, The
Sit-to-Stand Trainer was created so that individuals could develop
functional standing and transfer skills. Dr. Nativ also developed a patented and
more versatile body-weight support system, the
Bungee
Mobility Trainer
so that gait and balance skills could be more effectively trained and improved.
Now that it's "ahead of its
time" approach to neuro-rehab is being continuously validated, NeuroGym® remains
committed to developing new and more effective ways to achieve optimal
rehabilitation results. The clinical efficacy of an active, motor learning-based
approach to neurological physical rehabilitation is accumulating rapidly. The
interested reader is directed to the list of
peer-reviewed journal references
provided on this website.
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