Retuning motor network disorders using neuromodulation of spinal sensory afferents (A03)

• Subject Area: Molecular Biology and Physiology of Neurons and Glial Cells ; Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology ; Molecular and Cellular Neurology and Neuropathology
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 424778381

Epidural electrical stimulation (EES) of the spinal cord is a promising approach for the treatment of motor network disorders. Yet its mechanisms and full therapeutic potential remain to be determined. We have shown that EES primarily recruits sensory afferents with segmental specificity at the level of the spinal cord. This signifies the intriguing possibility that activation of ascending spinal projections can modulate supraspinal networks with somatotopic specificity. In this project, we will investigate whether segment-specific EES can differentially modulate somatotopic subcircuits in motor networks, and thus optimize treatment effects in animal models of Parkinson’s disease and stroke.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 295: Retuning dynamic motor network disorders using neuromodulation
• Major Instrumentation: Vicon motion capture system
• Applicant Institution: shared FU Berlin and HU Berlin through:; Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Matthias Endres; Professor Dr. Christoph Harms; Dr. Nikolaus Wenger, Ph.D.