Investigation of Cortical Changes Following Spinal Cord Injury

脊髓损伤后皮质变化的调查

• 批准号: 8425990
• 负责人: Jennifer L. Collinger
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-04-01 至 2014-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8425990
• 关键词: Affect; Anatomic structures; Area; Biomedical Engineering; Brain; Caring; Cerebral cortex; Cervical spinal cord injury; Chronic; Clinic; Clinical; Cognitive; Control Groups; Cues; Data; Development; Doctor of Philosophy; Engineering; Feedback; Goals; Hand; Hand functions; Healthcare Systems; Imagery; Impairment; Individual; Injury; Investigation; Journals; K-Series Research Career Programs; Knowledge; Learning; Limb Prosthesis; Magnetoencephalography; Maps; Measures; Mentorship; Methods; Motor; Motor Cortex; Movement; Muscle; Natural regeneration; Neural Pathways; Neuroanatomy; Neuronal Plasticity; Neurorehabilitation; Neurosciences; Occupational Therapy; Paralysed; Paraplegia; Paresis; Parietal; Participant; Pattern; Persons; Physical therapy; Physiology; Publications; Quadriplegia; Quality of life; Rehabilitation Research; Rehabilitation therapy; Research; Research Personnel; Research Training; Resources; Rest; Self-Help Devices; Sensorimotor functions; Signal Transduction; Source; Specific qualifier value; Spinal cord injury; System; Techniques; Time; Training; United States; Universities; Upper Extremity; Veterans; Visual; Visual Cortex; Work; Writing; arm; brain computer interface; career; computerized data processing; disability; experience; functional restoration; improved; improved functioning; insight; interest; motor control; motor impairment; neurofeedback; novel; oral communication; professor; rehabilitation strategy; relating to nervous system; response; restoration; skills; somatosensory; spinal cord repair; symposium; tool; visual motor

DESCRIPTION: (provided by applicant) The Career Development Award (CDA) experience includes research, professional, and clinical experience that will be prepare the nominee for a career as an independent investigator within the VA. The nominee is currently a Research Biomedical Engineer at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research interests include restoring or augmenting function for veterans with motor impairments through novel rehabilitation paradigms or assistive technologies. The research and training proposed in this CDA will allow her to improve her skills related to neuroanatomy/physiology, statistical analysis of high dimensional neural data, grantsmanship, and written and oral communication skills. The mentorship team includes experts in the fields of neuroanatomy (Peter Strick, PhD), rehabilitation research (Michael Boninger, MD), and neural engineering (Douglas Weber, PhD) who will facilitate this project. As part of this CDA, the nominee will attend journal clubs, research seminars, and professional conferences relevant to neuroplasticity, neurorehabilitation, and neural engineering. She will also take classes in Systems Neuroscience and Neural Data Processing. One half day every other week will be spent in the Physical and Occupational Therapy clinic to learn the strengths and limitations of currently available therapies as well as the needs of veterans with disabilities. As part of professional development, she will present her work regularly both locally and at professional conferences. At least three first author publications are expected to result from this work and the nominee will submit a CDA2 proposal as the CDA1 nears completion. Developing these research and professional skills will allow the nominee to pursue an independent research career related to neuroscience and neurorehabilitation with the goal of developing new rehabilitation strategies and assistive technologies. The proposed research is an investigation of cortical changes related to motor planning in individuals with cervical spinal cord injury (SCI). SCI results in the loss of motor control below the level of injury and individuals with tetraplegia have identified restoration of hand function as a priority to increase independence and improve quality of life. Researchers are working to develop neuroprosthetics restore function to people with motor impairments. Others are working towards spinal cord repair or regeneration techniques. Both of these promising therapies require intact motor control networks in the brain. However, following SCI, the disruption of efferent and afferent neural pathways likely leads to changes at the level of the brain. In order to develop new rehabilitative strategies or assistive technologies, it is important to understand how SCI affects the areas of the brain that are responsible for motor control. In the proposed study, MEG will be used to examine spatial and temporal patterns of activation in motor, visual, and parietal association areas in persons with SCI and able-bodied control participants performing visually guided covert (imagined and observed) and overt movements. Two types of movements will be studied, one that subjects with tetraplegia cannot perform overtly due to complete paralysis and a second movement limited by paresis, which is defined as a slight or partial paralysis. Cortical activity during movement may differ with the degree of impairment in the associated musculature leading to different rehabilitation strategies. Results from this study will provide important insight into the effects of chronic SCI on the functioning of sensorimotor regions of cerebral cortex and will guide the development of neurofeedback training paradigms for enhancing activation of motor cortical areas to strengthen corticospinal connection to muscles weakened by SCI.

描述：（由申请人提供） 职业发展奖 (CDA) 经验包括研究、专业和临床经验，这些经验将为提名人在 VA 内担任独立调查员的职业生涯做好准备。被提名者目前是 VA 匹兹堡医疗系统的研究生物医学工程师和匹兹堡大学的助理教授。 她的研究兴趣包括通过新颖的康复模式或辅助技术恢复或增强患有运动障碍的退伍军人的功能。 本 CDA 中提出的研究和培训将使她能够提高与神经解剖学/生理学、高维神经数据统计分析、资助以及书面和口头沟通技巧相关的技能。 导师团队包括神经解剖学（Peter Strick，博士）、康复研究（Michael Boninger，医学博士）和神经工程（Douglas Weber，博士）领域的专家，他们将推动该项目。 作为 CDA 的一部分，被提名者将参加与神经可塑性、神经康复和神经工程相关的期刊俱乐部、研究研讨会和专业会议。 她还将学习系统神经科学和神经数据处理课程。 每隔一周半天的时间将在物理和职业治疗诊所度过，以了解当前可用疗法的优点和局限性以及残疾退伍军人的需求。 作为专业发展的一部分，她将定期在当地和专业会议上展示她的作品。 这项工作预计将至少产生三篇第一作者出版物，并且被提名者将在 CDA1 接近完成时提交 CDA2 提案。 发展这些研究和专业技能将使被提名者能够从事与神经科学和神经康复相关的独立研究职业，目标是开发新的康复策略和辅助技术。 拟议的研究是对颈髓损伤 (SCI) 患者与运动规划相关的皮质变化的调查。 SCI 会导致损伤水平以下的运动控制丧失，四肢瘫痪患者已将恢复手部功能视为增强独立性和改善生活质量的首要任务。 研究人员正在致力于开发神经假体，以恢复运动障碍患者的功能。 其他人正在致力于脊髓修复或再生技术。 这两种有前途的疗法都需要大脑中完整的运动控制网络。 然而，脊髓损伤后，传出和传入神经通路的破坏可能会导致大脑水平的变化。 为了开发新的康复策略或辅助技术，了解 SCI 如何影响负责运动控制的大脑区域非常重要。 在拟议的研究中，MEG 将用于检查 SCI 患者和身体健全的对照参与者执行视觉引导的隐蔽（想象和观察）和显性运动时运动、视觉和顶叶关联区域激活的空间和时间模式。 将研究两种类型的运动，一种是四肢瘫痪的受试者由于完全瘫痪而无法明显地进行运动，另一种是由于轻瘫而限制运动，轻瘫被定义为轻微或部分瘫痪。 运动过程中的皮质活动可能因相关肌肉组织的损伤程度而异，从而导致不同的康复策略。 这项研究的结果将为了解慢性 SCI 对大脑皮层感觉运动区功能的影响提供重要见解，并将指导神经反馈训练范例的发展，以增强运动皮质区的激活，以加强皮质脊髓与 SCI 削弱的肌肉的连接。