The BSTIM Core will facilitate and coordinate access to state-of-the-art brain stimulation methods - used either to measure brain activity or as a potential therapy to modify the brain - for the COBRE Junior Investigators and other SCRCRS-affiliated researchers and serve as a campus-wide resource. Led by an internationally recognized expert in the field, the BSTIM Core builds on a series of brain stimulation laboratories currently distributed across the MUSC campus that need to be centrally organized, serviced and operated as an official university shared core resource. COBRE funds will be used to support a Bioengineer (shared with the Neuroimaging Core) to oversee the technical aspects of the laboratories, maintain all equipment, and develop new analysis routines; a full time Research Technician to assist COBRE investigators and others with neurophysiological data collection; and dedicated effort of senior and experienced personnel who will provide mentoring, training and methods development in brain stimulation techniques and measurements.
The aims of the BSTIM Core are to: (1) enable SCRCRS investigators to use advanced BSTIM techniques to study brain plasticity and behavior to guide and individualize rehabilitation therapies by providing leading-edge neurophysiological tools that can be integrated with QBAR and Nl measures; (2) enable SCRCRS investigators to use standardized BSTIM Treatments to optimize the treatment effects of restorative therapies by using current state-of-the-art methods or developing novel tools or methods; (3) mentor all COBRE investigators in Brain Stimulation Methods (for animal and human studies) by providing hands on training for investigators, translational mentoring, periodic workshops in data analysis, and a semiannual Brain Stimulation Intensive Course; and (4) establish BSTIM as a leading resource for MUSC, South Carolina and beyond in Brain Stimulation Methods for recovery from stroke with special emphasis on expertise in using cutting-edge stimulation tools to guide the application of rehabilitation. Core services for neurophysiological assessment include: (1) basic TMS-measured neurophysiology (Motor Threshold, Cortical Silent Period, Paired Pulse, and Recruitment Curves); (2) image-guided stimulation; (3) more specialized approaches such as bi-hemispheric paired pulse for transcallosal measurements and paired-associative stimulation for measures of hemispheric plasticity; and (4) invasive and noninvasive brain stimulation in animal models. Core services for rehabilitation/treatment or restorative therapies include repetitive TMS (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with opportunities to migrate to other brain stimulation methods, such as ECT, VNS, DBS, epidural cortical stimulation, transcranial pulsed ultrasound, etc., as research into stroke recovery progresses.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 92 publications
