Abstract
This column will try to describe the characteristics of current cyberpsychology research in Europe. In particular, CyberEurope aims at describing the leading research groups and projects running on the other side of the Ocean.
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Gait and postural control impairments and falls are ubiquitous among the elderly, and they lead to enormous personal, occupational, and healthcare burden. In particular, patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) are severely affected by the progressive deterioration of these gait and postural control mechanisms. Elucidating mechanisms of age- and disease-related motor control impairments and devising focused treatment strategies to counteract these symptoms represent major challenges for future research.
Role of Supraspinal Motor Centers
Various parts of the brain, collectively called the supraspinal motor centers, cooperate to control movement and locomotion. Ageing and neurodegenerative conditions such as PD damage the motor centers in ways that are not fully understood.
City4Age (
Sustainable Services and Tools
The project will create a model that will provide sustainability and extensibility to the offered digital services and tools by addressing the unmet needs of the elderly population, in terms such as:
detection of risks related to other health problems stimulation and provision of incentives to remain active, involved, and engaged creation of an ecosystem for a multi-sided market by matching needs and their fulfillments contribution to the design and operation of the ultimate age-friendly city, where the city itself provides support for detecting risks and providing interventions to those affected by MCI and frailty.
End User in the Center
To achieve these objectives, City4Age builds on behavioral, sociological, and clinical research on frailty and MCI in the elderly population. The project also uses state-of-the-art technology for “sensing” personal data and exposing them as linked open data, for designing algorithms and APIs to extract relevant behavior changes and correlated risks, and for designing interventions to counter the risks.
The project experts will engage stakeholders as much as possible, as it is important to ensure that City4Age is driven by relevant user needs and that it will be accepted by end users.
By deploying digital tools, the project will also facilitate the role of social and health services, as well as the role of family and caregivers. Pilots will take place in Madrid, Athens, Montpellier, Lecce, Birmingham, and Singapore.
Partners
City4Age acts as a bridge between the European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs) on Smart Cities and Communities, on the one side, and Active and Healthy Ageing, on the other side, with both EIPs being involved in City4Age. The project consortium includes research institutes, universities, and industry experts from France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Serbia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. This H2020 project will run for 4 years, with a total EU budget of €4,472,750.
Sources: Cordis, European Commission and European Union