fMRI-guided navigation system for TMS

经颅磁刺激（TMS）已成为认知神经科学家的首要技术之一。它补充了功能磁共振成像（将大脑活动区域与行为联系起来），允许人们短暂而安全地破坏大脑活动的焦点区域，并测量由此引起的行为变化。然而，颅磁刺激只有在一个人能够正确地将其瞄准正确的大脑部位时才有效。一开始我们用脑电图坐标，然后用核磁共振坐标。现在，我们需要一种商业上可用的“导航系统”，它可以在同一个体的功能活动区域（使用fMRI）上精确定位TMS脉冲。这现在很方便，因为约克已经购买了一台3-T功能磁共振成像，现在在我们的视觉研究中心下运行。（平行的发现基金提案描述了主要申请人之前和提议的关于mri引导下的颅磁刺激对涉及视觉空间记忆的皮质区域的工作）。为了实现这种组合方法的强大功能，我们需要一个强大的导航系统，它具有足够的精度和精度，并且便于在实时条件下使用。我们还需要一个系统，可以稳定受试者和TMS线圈在不同的配置，以获得安全的结果。这个建议描述了一个系统，它将在可预见的未来为我的实验室和我们的合作者满足这些需求。该系统将支持的研究对于基本理解大脑如何表现和作用于空间，大脑的不同区域如何相互作用以指导行为，以及人类感觉运动系统与各种技术的最佳整合至关重要。此外，该设备将用于涉及多个机构的学生和研究人员的研究培训计划。

Trans-cranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has become one of the premier techniques for the Cognitive Neuroscientist. It complements fMRI (which correlates regions of brain activity to behavior) by allowing one to briefly and safely disrupt focal regions of brain activity and measure the changes in behavior that this causes. However, TMS is only as good as one's ability to properly aim it at the correct brain site. Originally we did this using EEG coordinates, and then using MRI coordinates. Now, we need a commercially available 'navigation system' that can pin-point TMS pulses over regions of functional activity identified in the same individual subject (using fMRI). This is now convenient, because York has purchased a 3-T fMRI that is now operational under our Vision Research Centre. (The parallel Discovery Grant proposal describes the principle applicant's previous and proposed work on MRI-guided TMS of cortical areas involved in visuospatial memory). In order to realize the power of this combined approach, we need a robust navigation system that has sufficient accuracy and precision, and is convenient to use in real-time conditions. We also need a system that can stabilize the subject and TMS coil in different configurations to obtain secure results. This proposal describes a system that will fulfill each of these requirements in the foreseeable future for my lab and for our collaborators. The research that this system will support is crucial to a basic understanding of how the brain represents and acts upon space, how different regions of the brain interact to guide behavior, and for the optimal integration of human sensorimotor systems with various technologies. Moreover, this equipment will be used in a research training program that involves students and investigators from multiple Institutions.