Papers
8
Total Citations
636
H-Index
8
About
Avrielle Rykman is a leading researcher in neurorehabilitation, whose work sits at the intersection of robotics, brain stimulation, and motor recovery after stroke and spinal cord injury. Her key contributions include pioneering the use of robotic devices as both therapeutic tools and diagnostic instruments, demonstrating that robotic measurements of arm kinematics can serve as objective biomarkers of motor impairment and recovery. Her highly cited 2013 paper (156 citations) established that robotic measures correlate with standard clinical scales, while her 2021 follow-up showed these metrics can predict stroke severity scores with high accuracy. Rykman also advanced the combination of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with robotic therapy, investigating how the timing of stimulation relative to practice influences corticomotor excitability and functional gains. Her 2009 study (140 citations) demonstrated that anodal tDCS sustains excitability during robotic wrist therapy in chronic stroke. Notably, she extended robotic rehabilitation to spinal cord injury, showing improved upper-limb motor performance in chronic tetraplegia. Her work has also addressed clinical complications like shoulder subluxation, and she developed an MRI-compatible robotic device to predict therapy efficacy from changes in sensorimotor network connectivity. With over 600 total citations, Rykman’s research has shaped how clinicians quantify and enhance motor recovery using technology.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 3Robotic Devices as Therapeutic and Diagnostic Tools for Stroke Recovery115 citations · 2009
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