BEEHIVE Neurorehabilitation Lab

About the Project

BEEHIVE is an applied neurotrauma research lab focused on the human brain and environment interface after trauma.

Aligned with the research stream Enabling Technologies and Environments, this lab will bring an evidence-based understanding of how enriched environments can promote optimum functioning after injury or illness in cognitive, motor, sensory and how social capacity will provide opportunities for enriched experiences from hospital to home. This project aims to do this through:

• Advances in technology and neuro-feedback mechanisms to build neuroscientific evidence and knowledge in rehabilitation
• Optimising recovery and rehabilitation through enrichment principles and neuroplasticity research
• Testing new tools and processes with rehabilitation clinicians at the Gold Coast University Hospital

This project has a dedicated lab at Gold Coast University Hospital. It is led by environmental psychology academic Dr Michael Norwood and neuroscience and neuropsychologist Professor Heidi Zeeman, and by the clinical lead Susan Jones.

Partnership:

The BEEHIVE lab is a collaborative initiative, in partnership with The Hopkins Centre (THC), Griffith University, and Gold Coast University Hospital (GCUH). This project establishes THC and Griffith University as one of the few Australian research institutions taking this unique approach to rehabilitation, aligning the strengths of the clinical unit at GCUH with a strong project team.

Funding:

The project is currently funded through Griffith University and the Motor Accident Insurance Commission.

This lab is a translational research collaboration between researchers and hospital clinicians that explores how we can use the environment to facilitate rehabilitation outcomes following neurotrauma. Research for this lab focusses on a knowledge gap regarding the specific implications of environmental enrichment and how it might affect human rehabilitation from brain injury. We focus on 3 research streams that cover technological, recreational, and direct physical environments.

Projects include virtual environments, nature, and personalisation of environments. See our project list below.