(July 19,
2012) UT Dallas
researchers recently demonstrated how nerve stimulation paired with specific
experiences, such as movements or sounds, can reorganize the brain. This
technology could lead to new treatments for stroke, tinnitus, autism and other
disorders.
After five days of
stimulation and movement pairing, the researchers examined the brain activity
in response to the stimulation. The rats who received the training along with
the stimulation displayed large changes in the organization of the brain’s
movement control system. The animals receiving identical motor training without
stimulation pairing did not exhibit any brain changes, or plasticity.
In a related paper, UT Dallas neuroscientists showed that
they could alter the speed at which the brain works in laboratory animals by
pairing stimulation of the vagus nerve with fast or slow sounds.
A team led by Dr. Robert Rennaker and Dr. Michael Kilgard
looked at whether repeatedly pairing vagus nerve stimulation with a specific
movement would change neural activity within the laboratory rats’ primary motor
cortex. To test the hypothesis, they paired the vagus nerve stimulation with
movements of the forelimb in two groups of rats. The results were published in
a recent issue of Cerebral Cortex.