|
Motor Learning/Control Lab
Lab Director: Andrew J. Butler, PhD, PT, FAHA
The main focus of Dr. Butler’s laboratory is on how volitional movement,
motor learning, and organized motor behavior are represented in the
human brain. We have recently completed a project evaluating the effect
of constraint-induced movement therapy on cortical motor reorganization
following stroke using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).This approach provided
insight into mechanisms responsible for restitution of functional
capability in using an impaired limb that had previously not been used
to  manipulate the environment following a stroke.
We are currently testing the hypothesis that motor (re)learning can be
enhanceded both in healthy people and in people with post-stroke
hemiparesis by increasing the excitability and synaptic activity of the
primary motor cortex using high-frequency repetitive transcranial
magnetic stimulation (rTMS).
Lastly, we are testing the effects of an application of subsensory
stochastic resonance (SR) delivered by a combination of mechanical and
electrical stimulation to the upper extremity. By increasing the amount
of coordinated afferent traffic that naturally occurs during
rehabilitation, the technology being tested promises to accelerate and
improve the outcomes of stroke patients through more rapid or more
complete neuroplastic remodeling.
Equipment
Dr. Butler’s labs are located in the Center for Rehabilitation Medicine
in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Emory University and
the
Atlanta VA medical center. Available equipment includes a single Magstim
200 single pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation unit for elicit MEPs
and acquiring brain maps. Also available is a Magstim Super rapid rate
stimulator capable of producing 50 Hz theta burst repetitive
stimulation. There are 2 double 70 mm coils and one sham coil. A
brainsight frameless stereotaxy system is used with MR scans to
specifically and consistently locate relevant brain structures targeted
with TMS. Also available is an eight channel EGM system, Polhemus and
Optotrack motion analysis systems, and 4 ATI force transducers.
Dr. Butler's CRM laboratory has 2 Pentium 4 I.5GHz Linux based workstation
and 400GB storage for MRI research. Four additional Windows based PC are available
for data analysis. Dr. Butler's VAMC laboratory is equipped with one Macintosh
G5 workstation for image processing, fMRI data analysis and collection of Brainsight
data. All workstations have image processing software such as FSL, SPM, AFNI,
MATLAB and MRICRO as well as other in-house image process and analysis software.
The VAMC RR&
D center has a single Brainvoyager site-license for image
processing.
top |
