Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

The brain contains complex networks that allow us to process sensory information in the world and to think and make decisions in order to interact with our environment. Over the past 20 years significant advances have been made in understanding how the brain codes information through various brain imaging techniques including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain. Neuroscientists can image the brains structure, how it functions during specific thoughts, perceptions and actions and how regions connect to one another. Most recently, non-invasive neuromodulation with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been a powerful tool for causal mapping of brain regions and their interconnectivity. TMS applies a precise magnetic pulse to the scalp to introduce transient neural noise into a discrete region of cortex thereby disrupting processing. Measurement of behavior before and after TMS allows for causal inferences about the function and connectivity of the TMS-targeted region. When paired with functional MRI (fMRI), TMS target regions can be precisely targeted through functional stereotaxy thereby allowing precise localization of target sites and examination of functional rather than just anatomical brain regions. This research proposal builds upon existing TMS and MRI infrastructure in my lab and will provide academic collaborators and trainees with enhanced opportunity to examine the brain with cutting edge neuroscience tools. The proposed research tools are: 1) a new TMS Stimulator (the current machine is 10 years old, not supported by the vendor as of January 2018 and continuously breaks down during experiments causing data loss). The new stimulator will perform like the current stimulator but also will allow fast theta burst stimulation protocols; 2) a sham/placebo stimulation coil for delivery of placebo stimulation in a double blind manner thereby reducing the number of control conditions, shortening experimental paradigms and increasing experimental sophistication; 3) TMS-fMRI stereotaxic reflective spheres; 4) updated MRI analysis software licenses to enable enhanced graphical representations and newer, faster analyses of large fMRI datasets; 5) a workstation for visual stimulus delivery and 6) a high-performance workstation for data analysis. My lab is housed in a research centre where there is a concentration of neuroscientists using neuroimaging techniques and working in diverse areas to understand how the brain guides behavior, making it a hotbed for collaborative novel research and development. I have a number of internal and external collaborators and this infrastructure will yield a competitive edge for their HQP. This research technology will assist in training HQP from undergraduate to postdoctoral levels on the latest techniques in mapping the brain and its networks thereby making them highly marketable in research, industry and clinical settings.