The goals of this application are: (1) to further develop the applicant's research program in basic neuroscience investigating brain mechanisms relevant to neurological rehabilitation. (2) To expand the applicant's research program into translational research, by applying to clinical investigation the approaches and methods that we have gained expertise in while addressing basic science questions. (3) To expand the applicant's ability to mentor beginning clinician-investigators in the arena of neurological rehabilitation, by training them in the application of our methods and approaches to the study of how particular neuro-rehabilitative interventions work. The focus in this application is on basic and clinical studies relevant for the rehabilitation of individuals with sensory impairment, particularly in the visual domain. In the long term, the goal is to improve neurological rehabilitation, by targeting interventions to the most appropriate patient groups and by designing and evaluating novel interventions and approaches. The methods to be used in this application include careful sensory testing, and brain scanning using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the nature of changes in brain activity and connectivity. Specifically, we will study cross-modal interactions between vision and touch, multisensory processing, perceptual learning and the effects of blindness, and apply the insights gained from these studies to the rehabilitation of patients with partial visual loss, visual field deficits and hemineglect. With respect to the rehabilitative interventions tested, fMRI will be used to study neural changes that accompany the associated functional recovery. In turn, this is expected to aid further development of neurorehabilitative procedures. Relevance To Public Health: The proposed work aims to develop ongoing basic research and translate it into improving approaches available for the rehabilitation of people with various neurological disorders, especially those affecting senses such as vision. A key aspect of this application is the provision of support for the Principal Investigator to mentor individuals who are beginning a research career in neurorehabilitation.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Eye Institute (NEI)
Type
Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research (K24)
Project #
5K24EY017332-05
Application #
7825307
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZEY1-VSN (02))
Program Officer
Wiggs, Cheri
Project Start
2006-05-01
Project End
2012-04-30
Budget Start
2010-05-01
Budget End
2012-04-30
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$135,892
Indirect Cost
Name
Emory University
Department
Neurology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
066469933
City
Atlanta
State
GA
Country
United States
Zip Code
30322
Adhikari, Bhim M; Sathian, K; Epstein, Charles M et al. (2014) Oscillatory activity in neocortical networks during tactile discrimination near the limit of spatial acuity. Neuroimage 91:300-10
Sathian, K; Deshpande, Gopikrishna; Stilla, Randall (2013) Neural changes with tactile learning reflect decision-level reweighting of perceptual readout. J Neurosci 33:5387-98
Hampstead, Benjamin M; Sathian, Krish; Phillips, Pamela A et al. (2012) Mnemonic strategy training improves memory for object location associations in both healthy elderly and patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment: a randomized, single-blind study. Neuropsychology 26:385-99
Lacey, Simon; Stilla, Randall; Sathian, K (2012) Metaphorically feeling: comprehending textural metaphors activates somatosensory cortex. Brain Lang 120:416-21
Hampstead, Benjamin M; Stringer, Anthony Y; Stilla, Randall F et al. (2012) Mnemonic strategy training partially restores hippocampal activity in patients with mild cognitive impairment. Hippocampus 22:1652-8
Lacey, Simon; Lin, Jonathan B; Sathian, K (2011) Object and spatial imagery dimensions in visuo-haptic representations. Exp Brain Res 213:267-73
Hampstead, Benjamin M; Stringer, Anthony Y; Stilla, Randall F et al. (2011) Where did I put that? Patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment demonstrate widespread reductions in activity during the encoding of ecologically relevant object-location associations. Neuropsychologia 49:2349-61
Sathian, K; Lacey, Simon; Stilla, Randall et al. (2011) Dual pathways for haptic and visual perception of spatial and texture information. Neuroimage 57:462-75
Hampstead, Benjamin M; Stringer, Anthony Y; Stilla, Randall F et al. (2011) Activation and effective connectivity changes following explicit-memory training for face-name pairs in patients with mild cognitive impairment: a pilot study. Neurorehabil Neural Repair 25:210-22
Lacey, Simon; Hagtvedt, Henrik; Patrick, Vanessa M et al. (2011) Art for reward's sake: visual art recruits the ventral striatum. Neuroimage 55:420-33

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