Non-invasive neuromodulation suite

大脑包含复杂的网络，使我们能够处理世界上的感官信息，并思考和做出决定，以便与我们的环境互动。在过去的20年里，通过各种脑成像技术，包括脑的磁共振成像（MRI），在理解大脑如何编码信息方面取得了重大进展。神经科学家可以描绘大脑的结构，它在特定的思想，感知和行动中如何运作，以及区域如何相互连接。最近，经颅磁刺激（TMS）的非侵入性神经调节已经成为大脑区域及其相互连接的因果映射的有力工具。TMS向头皮施加精确的磁脉冲，将瞬时神经噪声引入皮层的离散区域，从而中断处理。在TMS之前和之后的行为测量允许关于TMS靶向区域的功能和连接性的因果推断。当与功能性MRI（fMRI）配对时，TMS目标区域可以通过功能性立体定向精确定位，从而允许精确定位目标部位并检查功能性而不仅仅是解剖学脑区域。这项研究计划建立在我实验室现有的TMS和MRI基础设施之上，将为学术合作者和学员提供更多的机会，用尖端的神经科学工具检查大脑。拟议的研究工具是：1）新的TMS刺激器（当前机器已使用10年，截至2018年1月，供应商不支持，并且在实验期间不断发生故障，导致数据丢失）。新的刺激器将像电流刺激器一样工作，但也将允许快速θ脉冲串刺激方案; 2）假/安慰剂刺激线圈，用于以双盲方式递送安慰剂刺激，从而减少对照条件的数量，缩短实验范例并增加实验复杂性; 3）TMS-fMRI立体定位反射球; 4）更新的MRI分析软件许可证，以实现增强的图形表示和大型fMRI数据集的更新，更快的分析; 5）用于视觉刺激传递的工作站和6）用于数据分析的高性能工作站。我的实验室坐落在一个研究中心，那里集中了神经科学家，他们使用神经成像技术，在不同的领域工作，以了解大脑如何指导行为，使其成为合作创新研究和开发的温床。我有许多内部和外部的合作者，这个基础设施将为他们的HQP带来竞争优势。这项研究技术将有助于培训HQP从本科到博士后水平的最新技术，以绘制大脑及其网络，从而使其在研究，工业和临床环境中具有高度的市场价值。

The brain contains complex networks that allow us to process sensory information in the world and to think and make decisions in order to interact with our environment. Over the past 20 years significant advances have been made in understanding how the brain codes information through various brain imaging techniques including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain. Neuroscientists can image the brain’s structure, how it functions during specific thoughts, perceptions and actions and how regions connect to one another. Most recently, non-invasive neuromodulation with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been a powerful tool for causal mapping of brain regions and their interconnectivity. TMS applies a precise magnetic pulse to the scalp to introduce transient neural noise into a discrete region of cortex thereby disrupting processing. Measurement of behavior before and after TMS allows for causal inferences about the function and connectivity of the TMS-targeted region. When paired with functional MRI (fMRI), TMS target regions can be precisely targeted through functional stereotaxy thereby allowing precise localization of target sites and examination of functional rather than just anatomical brain regions. This research proposal builds upon existing TMS and MRI infrastructure in my lab and will provide academic collaborators and trainees with enhanced opportunity to examine the brain with cutting edge neuroscience tools. The proposed research tools are: 1) a new TMS Stimulator (the current machine is 10 years old, not supported by the vendor as of January 2018 and continuously breaks down during experiments causing data loss). The new stimulator will perform like the current stimulator but also will allow fast theta burst stimulation protocols; 2) a sham/placebo stimulation coil for delivery of placebo stimulation in a double blind manner thereby reducing the number of control conditions, shortening experimental paradigms and increasing experimental sophistication; 3) TMS-fMRI stereotaxic reflective spheres; 4) updated MRI analysis software licenses to enable enhanced graphical representations and newer, faster analyses of large fMRI datasets; 5) a workstation for visual stimulus delivery and 6) a high-performance workstation for data analysis. My lab is housed in a research centre where there is a concentration of neuroscientists using neuroimaging techniques and working in diverse areas to understand how the brain guides behavior, making it a hotbed for collaborative novel research and development. I have a number of internal and external collaborators and this infrastructure will yield a competitive edge for their HQP. This research technology will assist in training HQP from undergraduate to postdoctoral levels on the latest techniques in mapping the brain and its networks thereby making them highly marketable in research, industry and clinical settings.