Researchers
in the Children's Leraning Institute at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston are using a new research
tool to record brain activity changes after stroke in the hopes of developing and
evaluating therapies to improve function.
The technology is called Magnetoencephalography
(MEG) or Magnetic Source Imaging (MSI). MEG is completely noninvasive and records brain waves (electrical
and magnetic activity) that occur during visual and auditory stimulation, attempted
movement or being touched. The multi-year study is supported by a grant from
the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Research suggests that areas of the
brain that perform certain tasks such as moving the limbs, feeling soft touch
or understanding speech may undergo change after stroke. Knowledge of the
nature of these changes is potentially important to designing and evaluating
therapies for problems with these tasks. The study will describe these changes
in brain function after stroke, and the conditions under which they occur.
The process of recovery after a stroke
is not well understood. It has been suggested that recovery is the result of
functional brain reorganization. We plan to investigate systematically the
extent and type of reorganization and accumulate direct evidence of brain
plasticity and functional reorganization using Magnetic Source Imaging.
Eligible participants must have suffered a left or right hemisphere stroke, but not
both. Participants can be English or Spanish speakers. Participants will be
tested two times in one year, initially and 12 months later. They also will
have an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) in the beginning and at 12 months.
Andrew C. Papanicolaou, professor
and director of the medical school's Center for Clinical Neurosciences, is the
principal investigator. Baylor College of Medicine also is participating in the
study. Participants will go to TIRR (The Institute for Rehabilitation and
Research) for interviews and testing.
Participants will be compensated and
parking will be paid. For more information, call 713-797-7586.
Center for Clinical Neurosciences
Children's Learning Institute
University of Texas Houston Health Science Center
1333 Moursund Street Ste H114
Houston, Texas 77030
