SoK Pilot Fund Award Presentation: Michael Vesia
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About this event
Assistant Professor of Movement Science Michael Vesia will give his 2019 SoK Pilot Fund Award presentation, "Measuring and manipulating brain circuits for goal-directed movements with transcranial magnetic stimulation: Opportunities and challenges," on Friday, 12/9, from 1-2pm in SKB 2140.
Light refreshments will be served.
RSVP at forms.gle/zJzfx5TTXWtHxzmYA.
Abstract: Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can be used to measure connectivity and plasticity of parietal-frontal circuits underlying motor control. Here, I show (1) how grasping a particular object is coded in specific ‘two-node’ circuits within a parietal-frontal grasping network using a multi-focal TMS method and (2) how TMS techniques can be used to assess and modulate these specific functional circuits to influence network dynamics, plasticity, and function. I then propose that controlling behavioral state during circuit-targeted TMS can enhance the specificity of neuromodulatory action among distributed brain regions involved in grasping and concomitantly improve manual dexterity. Collectively, this work demonstrates how multi-focal TMS methods give insight into causal interactions between neural circuits and behavior, and can be used to provide direct and objective insight into cortical activity during behavior. This advanced understanding may prove to be an effective strategy to modify functional connectivity in the motor network, leading us to novel TMS methods to treat motor disorders more effectively after brain injury and disease.