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Bulea – 2026

Mentor: Thomas Bulea, Ph.D. | thomas.bulea@nih.gov
Lab
Neurorobotics Research Group, Neurorehabilitation & Biomechanics Research Section, Rehabilitation Medicine Department, Clinical Center
CC

EEG-based Neurofeedback in Children with Cerebral Palsy

The Neurorehabilitation and Biomechanics Research Section investigates mechanisms underlying normal and abnormal motor function, and leverages this information to design new devices and interventions to improve motor function in children with movement disorders.

The primary goal of this project is to develop and experimentally test a neurofeedback paradigm to improve ankle dorsiflexion in children with cerebral palsy (CP). The neurofeedback system includes a brain-computer interface (BCI) that uses electroencephalography (EEG) in real-time to detect a user’s intent to move their ankle. This BCI activates an assistive device – either functional electrical stimulation (FES) or a robotic system – to assist the desired motion. The hypothesis is that repeated training with this neurofeedback system will improve ankle function.

This summer project will assist in evaluation of this hypothesis through delivery of this neurofeedback paradigm as part of a clinical research study involving up to 10 sessions of training with each child participant.

With mentorship, the intern will: 

  • Assist in clinical experiments involving collection of EEG, EMG and motion capture data during performance of neurofeedback training of ankle dorsiflexion in children with CP
  • Learn the basics of EEG and motion capture data analysis with mentoring and assistance from lab staff and fellows
  • Analyze, offline, EEG data to assess the real-time performance of the BCI system in detecting movement intent and activating the assistive device
  • Revise and further develop the real-time algorithm used to detect movement intent as needed to improve system performance

Environment:

The intern will benefit from being part of a highly dynamic, interdisciplinary team spanning engineers, clinicians, physical/occupational/recreational therapists, and orthotists, working together to study diverse, rare movement disorders and develop clinically relevant interventions. Ongoing work includes emerging treatment paradigms such as rehabilitation robotics and exoskeletons, ultrasound-based approaches, virtual reality, and mobile neuroimaging (EEG/fNIRS). Our laboratory is housed within the NIH Clinical Center, the world’s largest hospital dedicated exclusively to clinical research, on the main Bethesda campus. In this setting, interns will have day-to-day exposure to a broad range of scientific and clinical career paths and training levels, including postbacs, postdocs/fellows, staff scientists, clinicians, and intramural investigators.