Preface

In recent years, neurorehabilitation (neuroscience-based rehabilitation), which utilizes the brain's plasticity, has made remarkable progress and attracted much attention. The term "neurorehabilitation" is defined as "concepts, evaluation methods, therapies, and devices that apply the knowledge of brain theory revealed by neuroscience and related research to rehabilitation medicine." The concept of neurorehabilitation is widely accepted in physical therapy, and evaluation and treatment based on this concept are being practiced. What is required in neurorehabilitation research is to analyze the changes and improvements in motor behavior and cognitive and learning abilities and the changes in brain functions that bring about these changes. This will allow us to get closer to the neural mechanisms of rehabilitation effects and is expected to develop effective methods that are more suitable for the subject. The book presents basic research and clinical applications related to neurorehabilitation and physical therapy. It is organized into the following nine chapters written by experts from around the world.

Chapter 1: "Application of Attention Focus in Rehabilitation to Promote Motor Performance and Motor Learning"

Chapter 2: "Potential Applications of Motor Imagery for Improving Standing Posture Balance in Rehabilitation"

Chapter 3: "Clinical Application of Repetitive Peripheral Magnetic Stimulation in Rehabilitation"

Chapter 4: "Possibility of Using a VR System as an Action Observation Therapeutical Technique"

Chapter 5: "Effect of Unilateral Neglect with Basal Ganglia Bleed in Stroke Survivor"

Chapter 6: "Neurofunctional Intervention Approaches"

Chapter 7: "Nutritional Support in Stroke Neurorehabilitation"

Chapter 8: "Mild Cognitive Impairment: An Overview"

Chapter 9: "Methods of Treating Autism: Holistic Approach to the Rehabilitation of People with the Spectrum of Autism"

I would like to express my great appreciation to the authors of this book and all those involved in its editing.

#### **Hideki Nakano, Ph.D.**

**1**

Section 1

Basic Research

Associate Professor, Neurorehabilitation Laboratory, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kyoto Tachibana University, Kyoto, Japan Section 1
