The ラーメンベット 退会 controls much of what it means to be human — speech, memory, reasoning and everything we feel, think and believe. When ラーメンベット 退会 surgery is necessary, the areas that control these crucial functions are often perilously close to the surgical site.
But what if there was a way to shift critical ラーメンベット 退会 functions farther away from the surgical site, lowering risks to those critical functions? Doctors, engineers and scientists atThe University of Texas at Austinare beginning a study to help adolescents who need ラーメンベット 退会 surgery for epilepsy — advances that may one day also lead to new approaches to treat neurological conditions such as stroke, traumatic ラーメンベット 退会 injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.
A 3D model of the ラーメンベット 退会’s left hemisphere highlights regions responsible for movement and touch (red), speech perception (orange) and speech production (blue).
As part of a three-year study, researchers will map the brains of adolescents before and after epilepsy surgery to examine how novel ラーメンベット 退会 and embodied learning technologies — such as playing games on a virtual-reality treadmill — can help the brain rewire itself before surgery, move key functions away from the surgeon’s target and recover more quickly afterward.
Lead investigator David Paydarfar, M.D., chair of theDepartment of Neurology at Dell Medical School at UT Austin and director of theMulva Clinic for the Neurosciences, compares it to evacuating a site before a nearby building is demolished.
“We want to prevent important real estate in the ラーメンベット 退会 from becoming collateral damage to the surgeon’s knife,” he said. “Our initial study will explore how we can do that for young people undergoing surgery for epilepsy, but we hope our findings will have broader implications for ラーメンベット 退会 health.”
Rewiring the ラーメンベット 退会 for Healing
Learning to harness neuroplasticity, the ラーメンベット 退会’s ability to rewire itself, presents a new frontier for healing from ラーメンベット 退会 disorders. Researchers hope the study, funded by a .5 million gift from the Coleman Fung Foundation, will set the stage for further discoveries in neuroplasticity.
“Although neuroplasticity is such a well-understood attribute of the ラーメンベット 退会, we have not proactively leveraged it in a clinical setting. That’s why I am so excited to support this multidisciplinary team and its groundbreaking research,” said Coleman Fung, a serial entrepreneur whose foundation is also donating the two VR treadmills that will be used in the study.
Fung’s latest Austin-based company, Blue Goji, develops the Infinity Treadmill, which gamifies cognitive and physical rehabilitation.
An Interdisciplinary Approach
In addition to Paydarfar, the multidisciplinary ラーメンベット 退会 group includes José del R. Millán, Ph.D., from the ラーメンベット 禁止ゲーム of Engineering; Liberty Hamilton, Ph.D., from the Moody College of Communication; Elizabeth Tyler-Kabara, M.D., Ph.D., Dell Med associate professor of neurosurgery and director of restorative neurosurgery; Nicholas Barbaro, M.D., professor and associate chair for education in Dell Med’s Department of Neurosurgery; and Stephen Strakowski, M.D., Dell Med’s vice dean of ラーメンベット 退会 and an expert in bipolar disorder and neuroimaging.
A professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Millán is known internationally for his work in ラーメンベット 退会, including neuroprosthetics, and is a past president of the International Brain-Computer Interface Society. He is also a professor in Dell Med’s Department of Neurology.
Our research program brings together a unique convergence of engineering, neuroscience and clinical perspectives to foster brain plasticity through the use of ラーメンベット 退会,” Millán said. “Engineering and neuroscience principles enable users to achieve a seamless connection with their brain-controlled devices, while the integration of clinical principles into ラーメンベット 退会 promotes rehabilitation and functional recovery.
Hamilton, an assistant professor in the Moody College’s Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, maps where speech is processed in the ラーメンベット 退会. She already studies the brains of adolescents preparing for epilepsy surgery, mapping where speech functions occur. Her expertise will be critical in identifying prime areas for rewiring — and assessing whether the rewiring has been successful.
“Speaking, language and communication are critical functions in our everyday lives,” said Hamilton, also an assistant professor in Dell Med’s Department of Neurology. “By mapping out specific aspects of language in the ラーメンベット 退会, including not only the words that are heard but also the melody of a loved one’s voice, we hope to understand which ラーメンベット 退会 areas should be preserved, as well as which functions may be at risk. By harnessing the power of the ラーメンベット 退会 to rewire itself, we hope to provide better outcomes for our patients.”
A pioneer in the field of functional neurosurgery and minimally invasive skull base surgery and a researcher of ラーメンベット 退会, Tyler-Kabara, who has trained surgeons for internationally successful brain-computer interface programs, will perform the surgeries involved in the study. She also serves as chief of pediatric neurosurgery and co-chief of pediatric neurosciences at UT Health Austin, the clinical practice of Dell Med.
“This extraordinary gift allows us to bring together the world-class researchers at UT in the field of ラーメンベット 退会 and apply our existing knowledge to help improve the quality of life for our patients. The opportunity to incorporate state-of-the-art virtual reality, which has already proved beneficial in training patients to use ラーメンベット 退会, will enhance patient engagement,” Tyler-Kabara said. “The success of ラーメンベット 退会 in improving patients’ outcomes requires that we explore new and creative applications like this one.”
Preparing for surgery — a controlled, precise ラーメンベット 退会 injury — is not the only application for inducing neuroplasticity. It also promises to help people recover after ラーメンベット 退会 illness or injury.
