Neuro-PRECISE Center: Neural Circuits Resource Core

Medical University Of South Carolina, Charleston SC

Investigators

Abstract

Modified Project Summary/Abstract Section NEURAL CIRCUITS RESOURCE (NCR) CORE – PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT The field of neurorehabilitation is exploding with research activity across basic and applied domains. While having grown over the past decade, some of those domains are still in their early stages. Currently, there are substantial limitations in the ability of rehabilitation researchers to identify dysfunctional neural circuits, precisely target and modulate those circuits, and verify that study teams have engaged those targets to restore function to those with physical, cognitive, and psychosocial disabilities. As such, there is a great need to advance knowledge and capacity in precision neurorehabilitation (PN). Over the past decade, our research group has been a national leader in growing the field of neuromodulation for rehabilitation. Building on this foundation, there is a tremendous opportunity to jumpstart PN research and fully realize its therapeutic benefits. The Neural Circuits Resource (NCR) Core will serve as a local and national resource to support PN research using the cutting-edge tools and methods necessary to precisely characterize, modulate, and rehabilitate neural circuits underlying function and recovery. The NCR Core will enable Center investigators, pilot project awardees, and the wider PN research community to create and advance evidence-based therapeutic strategies and novel multidomain neurorehabilitation interventions that lead to meaningful, personalized neural-based functional recovery for people with disabilities. Core aims are to: 1) Enable outstanding Precision Neurorehabilitation research by providing state-of-the-art methods, tools, techniques, and data critical to catalyzing research and therapeutic discoveries in PN; 2) Provide expert training and education on sophisticated Precision Neurorehabilitation approaches that enable scientific discovery by Center investigators and the national PN research community; and 3) Continually evaluate the resource needs of the Precision Neurorehabilitation researchers and expand our catalog of services to meet those needs. The NCR Core is innovative in several aspects. First, it will provide a fertile environment with faculty and staff participating in active studies involving some of the most cutting-edge tools that could be applied to precision neurorehabilitation methods. Second, the Core will support a world-leading environment with cutting-edge expertise in combining brain stimulation and other biomarkers for targeting, as well as confirming target engagement and assessing the changes induced by the intervention. Third, Core faculty are pioneers in refining the concepts, methods, technologies, and techniques that have helped develop the field.