Neuromodulation and multimodal neuroimaging in sensory neurorehabilitation: Neural plasticity, biomarkers, and perceptual recovery

Neurological injuries, including stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and neurodegenerative disorders, frequently disrupt sensory pathways, somatosensory processing, sensory integration, and perceptual representation. Although traditional neurorehabilitation has primarily focused on motor recovery, accumulating evidence indicates that sensory dysfunction is not merely a secondary symptom but a fundamental contributor to impaired functional outcomes. Accurate sensory feedback, adaptive afferent processing, and appropriate perceptual representation are essential foundations for motor learning, behavioural adaptation, functional independence, and neuroplasticity.When sensory information is impaired, patients may experience a broad spectrum of clinical consequences, including loss of tactile discrimination, impaired proprioception, altered pain processing, disturbed multisensory integration, and deficits in oropharyngeal sensory–motor control contributing to swallowing dysfunction. Therefore, understanding how sensory information is represented, processed, and restored within the nervous system represents a critical step toward developing mechanism-based neurorehabilitation strategies.Recent advances in non-invasive neuromodulation, including repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), transcranial electrical stimulation (tES), peripheral sensory stimulation, and closed-loop stimulation approaches, provide new opportunities to promote adaptive neural reorganisation. Meanwhile, multimodal neuroimaging and neurophysiological technologies, including structural and functional MRI, fNIRS, diffusion tensor imaging, high-density EEG, sensory-evoked potentials, and TMS-EEG approaches, enable researchers to characterize sensory network alterations, identify potential biomarkers, and predict individual responses to rehabilitation interventions.Despite these technological advances, important translational challenges remain: How can sensory dysfunction be precisely mapped? How can sensory-related biomarkers guide personalised rehabilitation strategies? How can sensory feedback, multisensory integration, and sensorimotor interactions be optimised to promote functional recovery?This Research Topic aims to bridge sensory neuroscience, neuroimaging, neuromodulation, and clinical neurorehabilitation. We welcome contributions investigating the neural mechanisms of sensory impairment and recovery, as well as innovative interventions that harness sensory-driven plasticity to improve rehabilitation outcomes.Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:1. Sensory processing and perceptual mechanisms in neurological disorders, including somatosensory impairment, proprioceptive dysfunction, altered pain processing, sensory loss after stroke or brain injury, and maladaptive cortical reorganisation.2. Oropharyngeal sensory feedback and sensorimotor control in rehabilitation, including peripheral and central sensory mechanisms of swallowing, sensory-enhanced rehabilitation approaches, and neuromodulation strategies for post-stroke dysphagia.3. Multisensory integration and sensorimotor plasticity, including cross-modal sensory processing, audiovisual and visuomotor integration, sensory-guided motor learning, and neural mechanisms underlying adaptive behaviour.4. Neuromodulation and sensory neurotechnology, including rTMS, tES, peripheral stimulation, closed-loop stimulation, brain–computer interfaces, sensory decoding, and sensory feedback systems targeting sensory and sensorimotor networks.5. Multimodal neuroimaging and electrophysiological biomarkers, including structural and functional imaging, tractography, fNIRS, EEG, sensory-evoked potentials, TMS-EEG, and computational approaches for identifying predictors of sensory recovery and treatment responsiveness.6. Sensory-driven rehabilitation and personalised intervention, including proprioceptive training, sensory stimulation, tactile feedback, action observation therapy, augmented feedback rehabilitation, and biomarker-guided personalised rehabilitation strategies. Topic editors: Ming Zeng, Xize Jia, Yangyang Lin, Zhongli Wang Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86196/neuromodulation-and-multimodal-neuroimaging-in-sensory-neurorehabilitation-neural-plasticity-biomarkers-and-perceptual-recovery