A robotic approach for assessing motor adaptation capability in mild Multiple Sclerosis patients

A prerequisite for rehabilitation is that patients preserve their ability to adapt to novel dynamic environments, an ability related to the cerebellar system. In this study, we use a robot manipulandum to test the ability of Multiple Sclerosis patients with subclinical sensorimotor symptoms to adapt to a speed-dependent curl force field. The study was motivated by a previous observation that these patients indeed display subtle symptoms of incoordination, that can be detected from movement analysis and are suggestive of mild cerebellar impairment. Moreover, a recent study demonstrated that subjects with cerebellar degeneration can no longer adapt to force fields. We found that mild MS subjects do indeed display incoordination problems, that are made even more evident by the task requirement of controlling the dynamics of the manipulandum. However, their ability to adapt to the force field does not significantly differ from controls. These findings suggest that these subjects may benefit from robot-assisted therapy that is specifically aimed at impaired visuomotor coordination