Cortex Changes in Real/Imagined Movement in ALS

描述（由申请人提供）：严重的身体残疾对一个人的生活有着巨大的影响，无论是由神经退行性疾病，如肌萎缩性侧索硬化症（ALS），脑干中风或脊髓损伤引起的。患有这些疾病的人可能会被有效地“锁定”，保留他们的认知能力，但除了最基本的眼球运动之外，无法进行任何运动。在有这种残疾的人中，对“只需思考就能操作”的技术有着浓厚的兴趣。“由于缺乏对导致残疾的特定条件的治疗，这种类型的技术，称为脑机接口（BCI），是恢复功能的最佳选择。BCI可以用来操作通信设备、轮椅或假肢。对于被锁定的人来说，这种技术可能是沟通和自我决定的唯一选择，而对于ALS患者来说，它将提供一种理想的替代控制方法，当其他功能能力恶化时，这种方法可能会保留下来。 BCI的操作将依赖于检测和处理自愿的大脑活动，例如尝试或想象运动的能力，例如敲击手指或移动腿，大脑活动在导致残疾的情况下幸存下来。然而，ALS进展对产生这种大脑活动的皮层区域的影响还没有得到很好的理解。 这项拟议中的研究将使用神经成像技术来绘制和纵向研究ALS患者的皮层区域，这些区域可以为BCI提供控制信号。使用功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）结合一系列的运动控制实验，在几年的时间内，我们将纵向映射大脑激活模式，以检查功能的稳定性，萎缩和可塑性。通过使用最先进的医学成像技术，该项目将进一步了解肌萎缩侧索硬化症（ALS），也被称为“Lou Gehrig病”，以及该疾病对人类大脑和中枢神经系统的影响。这些知识将有助于生物医学工程的努力，以建立设备，使ALS患者能够直接控制计算机和辅助技术与他们的大脑。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A severe physical disability has a dramatic impact on a person's life, whether it is caused by a neuro-degenerative disease such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a brainstem stroke, or a spinal cord injury. Someone with these conditions may be effectively "locked-in," retaining their cognitive ability, but unable to perform any movement except possibly the most basic eye movements. Among people with such disabilities, there is a keen interest in technology that can be operated "just by thinking." Short of a cure for the particular condition causing their disability, technology of this type, called a brain-computer interface (BCI), is the best option for restoration of function. A BCI could be used to operate a communication device, wheelchair, or a prosthetic limb. For someone who is locked-in, such technology may offer the only option for communication and self-determination, while for someone with ALS, it would provide a desirable alternative method of control that could potentially be retained as other functional abilities deteriorate. Operation of a BCI would rely on detection and processing of voluntary brain activity such as the ability to attempt or imagine movements such as tapping a finger, or moving a leg, brain activity that survives the condition resulting in the disability. However, the affect of ALS progression on the cortical areas that produce this brain activity is not well understood. The proposed research will use neuro-imaging techniques to map and longitudinally study regions of cortex in persons with ALS that could provide controls signals for a BCI. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in conjunction with a series of motor control experiments over a period of several years we will longitudinally map brain activation patterns to examine functional stability, atrophy and plasticity. By using state of the art medical imaging, this project will further the understanding of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease", and the disease's effect on the human brain and central nervous system. This knowledge will contribute to the biomedical engineering effort to build devices to allow people with ALS to directly control computers and assistive technologies with their brains.