Embodiment, Sensory Learning, and Functional Performance in Neurorehabilitation

Neurological disorders are among the leading causes of death and disability worldwide, and their growing prevalence continues to place an increasing burden on patients, healthcare systems, and society. In Europe, conditions such as stroke, dementia, neurodegenerative disorders, and headache disorders remain major contributors to disability and mortality. As more individuals live longer with neurological impairment, there is an urgent need for effective, scalable, and innovative neurorehabilitation approaches that support functional performance, adaptive behavior, and participation in everyday life.Recent developments in neurorehabilitation have highlighted the potential of multisensory and immersive technologies, including virtual reality, interactive movement sonification, and other sensory-based interventions, to enhance recovery and improve patient engagement. Such technologies allow researchers and clinicians to modulate body and environmental perception by altering visual, auditory, and sensorimotor inputs, thereby shaping presence, embodiment, body representation, and sensorimotor modulation. These processes are also directly relevant to Performance Science, as they influence how individuals perceive, learn, control, and optimize movement and action under constrained conditions. By influencing how individuals perceive their body, their movements, and their interaction with the surrounding environment, such interventions may support motor, cognitive, and affective rehabilitation and contribute to improved clinical outcomes in individuals with neurological conditions. At the same time, they offer important insight into the mechanisms that underpin sensorimotor performance, perceptual-motor learning, adaptation, and functional performance.This Research Topic aims to present and disseminate the most recent advances related to sensory learning techniques and multisensory technological interventions for neurorehabilitation. In line with the scope of Performance Science, the topic will particularly highlight contributions that improve our understanding of human performance through mechanisms such as embodiment, multisensory integration, motor learning, action regulation, and performance optimization in clinical and translational contexts. We welcome original research, clinical studies, systematic reviews, and methodological contributions addressing novel interventions for neurological populations, including but not limited to stroke, neurodegenerative disorders, acquired brain injury, spinal cord injury, and neurological conditions associated with chronic pain. Submissions should make a clear connection to performance-related outcomes, such as motor performance, task execution, perceptual-motor adaptation, skill acquisition, functional capacity, or performance health and wellbeing.Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: • Virtual and augmented reality • Auditory illusions • Movement sonification techniques • Embodiment-based interventions • Multimodal interventions • Perceptual illusions • Chronic pain • Motor disorders • Digital therapeutics • Sensorimotor performance and functional task execution • Perceptual-motor learning and adaptation • Performance health and wellbeing in neurological populations • Mechanisms of action regulation and movement optimization Topic editors: Marta Matamala-Gomez, Domna Banakou, Pierre Bourdin-Kreitz Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/80819/embodiment-sensory-learning-and-functional-performance-in-neurorehabilitation