REVIEW article
Front. Neural Circuits
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fncir.2025.1608328
This article is part of the Research TopicModularity in Motor Control: from neural networks to muscle synergiesView all articles
Neural control meets biomechanics in the motor assessment of neurological disorders: a narrative review
Provisionally accepted
Mirjam Bonanno1
Paolo De Pasquale1*
Bartolo Fonti1
Elvira Gjonaj1
Simona De Salvo1Angelo Quartarone1,2Rocco Salvatore Calabrò1- 1Bonino Pulejo Neurology Center (IRCCS), Messina, Italy
- 2Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Odontoiatriche, Morfologiche e Funzionali per Immagini, Università degli Studi di Messina, Messina, Sicily, Italy
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The emerging concept of "neurobiomechanics" embodies an integrative approach, bringing together insights from functional anatomy, the physiology of the musculoskeletal and central nervous systems, physics, and computer science. By examining human movement under normal, optimal, and pathological conditions, neurobiomechanics aims to unravel the intricate mechanisms driving motor function and dysfunction, offering a comprehensive perspective on disorders such as acquired brain injury and neurodegenerative diseases. In this narrative review, we sought to explore the "neurobiomechanics" as a potential approach to investigate both neural and biomechanical aspects of human motion, trying to answer the following questions: (1) "Which technologies can perform a neurobiomechanical assessment in neurological patients?", (2) "What are the key neurophysiological and biomechanical parameters?", (3) "How can we translate this approach from research to clinical practice?". We have found that, to assess/understand a patient's dysfunctional patterns, it is necessary to evaluate both neurophysiology and biomechanics in a complementary manner. In other words, assessing one aspect without the other is not sufficient, as this may lead to incomplete evaluations from both a functional and methodological perspective.
Keywords: neurobiomechanical assessment, cortico-muscular coherence, cortico-spinal pathway, neurological disorders, Neurorehabilitation, Neurophysiology, Biomechanics,, Computational approaches
Received: 08 Apr 2025; Accepted: 16 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bonanno, De Pasquale, Fonti, Gjonaj, De Salvo, Quartarone and Calabrò. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Paolo De Pasquale, Bonino Pulejo Neurology Center (IRCCS), Messina, Italy
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