MRI: Acquisition of a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulator to Enhance Research and Undergraduate Education

在重大研究仪器的支持下，Will的Kelly Jantzen博士和他的合作者为西部华盛顿大学(WWU)的心理系和行为神经科学项目购买了Magstim Super Rapid2经颅磁刺激器。WWU是一所文科本科院校，位于西雅图以北90英里，加拿大温哥华以南50英里，为可能难以接受高等教育的第一代低收入学生提供服务。TMS加入行为神经科学计划将1)扩大了解认知神经基础的实验室能力，2)加强人类认知和神经科学的本科培训和教学(实验室和课堂)，3)通过提供翻译研究平台，促进该计划、心理学系、大学和社区之间的更大合作。经颅磁刺激(TMS)是认知神经科学的核心工具，因为与其他人脑成像方法不同，TMS允许研究局部脑功能与人类行为之间的因果关系。TMS将用于两个主要的研究项目，涉及一些从事基础研究和翻译研究的合作科学家。行动和感知的整合计划试图了解人类如何协调、纠正和控制行动的神经机制。研究小组将使用TMS和高密度脑电(EEG)来了解参与动作和视觉整合的大脑网络，了解有关感觉运动协调的信息如何被用来纠正正在进行的动作，最终揭示额叶大脑区域如何对动作执行起到抑制作用。一个相关的翻译计划将结合人类TMS研究和动物研究，以进一步了解额叶皮质在对行动和认知施加抑制控制方面的作用。大脑程序中的第二语言处理，显示出在理解人类如何处理语言方面做出新的令人兴奋的发现的巨大希望。研究将调查音乐训练如何增强右脑的语言处理能力。该团队将测试使用TMS改变大脑顶叶节奏皮层的神经兴奋性是否会影响对语音的分类感知。在第一部分中，将评估音乐家和非音乐家右后上颞区活动中断的影响。在第二部分中，研究人员将评估使用TMS增强这些相同区域活动的影响。该团队将使用TMS将这些发现扩展到临床工作中，以调查失语症的强制诱导语言治疗。该设备实现的研究和培训计划将促进校内和校外的合作，并增加WWU在校外研究资金和出版方面的竞争力。这些设备将支持WWU内部以及WWU与其他机构和社区之间正在进行的合作，并帮助促进新的合作。该仪器将为本科生提供培训和接触主流电生理方法，他们中的许多人是他们家族中第一个上大学的人。认知神经科学方法的培训提供了神经科学、工业和医疗保健领域的机会。TMS正在迅速流行起来，用于治疗一些临床疾病，我们有机会培养出具有广泛培训和直接经验的本科生。

With Major Research Instrument Support, Dr. Kelly Jantzen and his collaborators at will purchase a Magstim Super Rapid2 Transcranial Magnetic Stimulator for the Psychology Department and Behavioral Neuroscience Program at Western Washington University(WWU). WWU, a liberal arts undergraduate institution located 90 miles north of Seattle and 50 miles south of Vancouver, Canada, serves an important segment of first-generation and low-income students who may struggle to access higher education. The addition of TMS to the Behavioral Neuroscience Program will 1) expand laboratory capability for understanding the neural basis of cognition, 2) enhance undergraduate training and teaching (both in the lab and in the classroom) in human cognition and neuroscience and 3) foster greater collaboration across the Program, the Psychology department, University and community, in part, by providing a platform for translational research. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a central tool in cognitive neuroscience because, unlike other human brain imaging approaches, TMS allows for the investigation of causal relationships between localized brain function and human behavior. The TMS will be employed in two main research programs involving a number of collaborative scientists working on both basic and translational research. The Integration of action and perception program seeks to understand neural mechanisms for how humans coordinate, correct and control action. The research team will use TMS in conjunction with high-density electroencephalography (EEG) to understand the brain network involved in the integration of action and vision, to learn how information about sensorimotor coordination is used to correct ongoing actions and finally to uncover how frontal brain regions play an inhibitory role over action execution. A related translational program will combine human TMS studies with and animal research to further understand the role of frontal cortex in exerting inhibitory control over action and cognition. The second Language Processing in the Brain program, shows great promise for making new and exciting discoveries in understanding how humans process language. Research will investigate how musical training enhances the processing of language in the right hemisphere. The team will test whether altering neural excitability in tempo-parietal cortices with TMS will influence categorical perception of speech sounds In part 1, the effects of disrupting activity in right posterior-superior temporal regions of musicians and non-musicians will be evaluated. In part 2, researchers will evaluate the influence of using TMS to enhancing activity in these same regions. The team will extend these findings to clinical work using TMS to investigating constraint induced language therapy in aphasicsThe research and training program enabled by the equipment will foster intramural and extramural collaborations and increase WWU's competitiveness for extramural research funding and publishing. The equipment will support ongoing and help foster new collaborations within WWU and between WWU and other institutions and the community. The instrumentation will provide training and access to mainstream electrophysiological methodologies to undergraduate students, many of whom are the first in their family to attend university. Training in Cognitive Neuroscience methods provides opportunities in neuroscience, industry and healthcare. TMS is rapidly gaining in popularity for the treatment of a number of clinical disorders and we have the opportunity to produce undergraduates with extensive training and direct experience.