SEPCORPS Model - SEParating CORtical and SPinal -level motor control responses using transcranial direct current stimulation and transcutaneous electrical stimulation

这个项目设计了大脑和脊髓的计算机表示，以便更好地了解人类是如何运动的。该软件还复制了大脑和脊髓系统如何适应变化，例如通过受伤。研究人员将使用该软件作为一项实验研究的一部分，该研究旨在探索用于脑刺激和肌肉刺激的医疗技术，以改进其在医疗保健中的使用方式。然后，计算机表示将被用来理解这些生物系统在人类运动中的相互作用。这项研究的具体意图将基于大脑从身体自然感官接收到的信息来研究大脑的适应与脊髓在改变运动行为中的作用。我们这个项目的总体目标是开发第一个皮质脊髓模型，该模型可以捕捉到神经刺激修改的皮质和脊髓水平的运动贡献。研究人员将首先围绕健康的受试者建立模型，在内部构建的人机界面上执行自愿移动光标的任务，从而实现这一点。这些运动将受到经皮神经肌肉刺激的干扰，从而允许对脊柱水平的刺激反应行为进行建模。然后，将应用基于磁共振成像(MRI)的系统分析来实现皮质控制器的映射，以确定运动执行中的大脑-肌肉路径。这些特定于对象的调整模型将支持相同的光标移动任务实验，但使用神经刺激(非侵入性脑刺激+神经肌肉刺激)在皮质和脊髓水平应用扰动。计算模型将利用测量的效应来分离皮质和脊髓水平的贡献，以及固有的感觉-运动反应。这一模型被假设在神经刺激策略及其相关康复结果的优化中具有翻译应用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project designs computer representations of the brain and spinal cord in order to better understand how humans move. The software is also built to duplicate how brain and spinal cord systems adapt to change, such as through injury. The researchers will use this software as part of an experimental study that explores medical technology used in brain stimulation and muscle stimulation to improve how it is used in healthcare. The computer representations will then be used to understand the interactions of these biological systems in human movement. The specific intents of this study will look at the brain’s adaptation in relation to the spinal cord’s role in modifying movement behavior based on the information it receives from the body’s natural sensors.Our overarching goal for this project is to develop the first corticospinal model that can capture cortical and spinal-level motor contributions modified by neurostimulation. The researchers will accomplish this by first building the model around healthy subjects performing a volitional cursor movement task on an in-house built human-machine interface. The motions will be perturbed with transcutaneous neuromuscular stimulation, allowing spinal-level stimulus-response behaviors to be modeled. Then, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based systems analysis will be applied to implement mappings of the cortical controller to define the brain-muscle pathway in motor execution. These subject-specific tuned models will support the same cursor movement task experiments, but with perturbations being applied at both cortical and spinal levels using neurostimulation (non-invasive brain stimulation + neuromuscular stimulation). The measured effect will be leveraged by the computational model to separate cortical and spinal-level contributions, along with the inherent sensory-motor responses. This model is hypothesized to have translational application in the optimization of neurostimulation strategies and their related rehabilitation outcomes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.