Timing is (Almost) Everything: Pursuing Cortical Interhemispheric Connectivity among Stroke Survivors (A P5 Production)
October 20, 2017 @ 04:45 pm
to 06:00 pm
Dr. Steven L. Wolf, Emory University
Noll Laboratory Conference Room
Timing is (Almost) Everything: Pursuing Cortical Interhemispheric Connectivity among Stroke Survivors (A P5_Production),_ _ Steven L. Wolf, Ph.D., PT, FAPTA, FAHA, Professor, Division of Physical Therapy, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Professor, Department of Medicine, Associate Professor, Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Emory Rehabilitation Hospital, Atlanta, GA,_3:45 pm to 5:00 pm, 127 Noll Laboratory,_hosts: The Center for Movement Science and Technology _ Huck Institutes and, The Department of Kinesiology (865-7575). _ Abstract:_The residual effects of a stroke leave all survivors along a recovery continuum with a goal of achieving optimal restoration. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can be used to noninvasively measure cortical excitability in the human brain. TMS-evoked brain responses of any stimulated region can now be measured using simultaneous electroencephalography (TMS-EEG) to directly quantify cortical excitability. TMS-EEG can also be used as a tool to identify and characterize connections between the stimulated cortex and other brain areas. Using TMS-EEG, we have now shown that effective interhemispheric connectivity is abnormal after stroke and associated with levels of persistent paretic arm impairment. Current non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) technologies have limited effectiveness in improving arm function and reducing disability after stroke that may be due in part to a lack of specificity and personalization of NIBS approaches. To improve specificity, TMS can be delivered to two distinct but interconnected brain regions to either strengthen or weaken the connections between the regions depending on the timing of stimulus delivery. This approach capitalizes on the mechanisms of neural plasticity that underlie motor skill learning, which underpins recovery of function after stroke. Here we discuss recent technological advances that may offer an opportunity to non-invasively characterize causal brain network activity in vivo in stroke survivors. _
Contact
Robert Sainburg
rls45@psu.edu
8148657938