About Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
The mission of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (NUFSM) is to develop and disseminate information, knowledge, skills, and programs to provide a better quality of life for individuals with disabling functional loss. The NUFSM PM&R program focuses on education and research related to a broad range of conditions, including the most severe traumatic injuries and diseases that limit a person’s ability to pursue functional independence and quality of life. Dr. Pape’s Neuroplasticity in Neurorehabilitation (NNR) Research Lab exemplifies our faculty’s wide variety of interests and specialties and the breadth of our department’s resources. The NNR lab, comprised of an interdisciplinary group of researchers and clinicians, focuses on improving the function and well-being of individuals with neurological conditions by developing interventions tailored to each person’s unique condition and goals.
How We Helped
In 2021 the Infinite Hero Foundation proudly funded 75,000 directed at the precision veteran-tailored cognitive rehabilitation: Customizing Type of Brain Modulation by Personal Profiles of Cognitive Functioning. The findings provided the foundation for future research developing precision individually-tailored brain modulation interventions improving the aspects of cognitive function identified by our Warriors as essential to their well-being.
Given the outcomes, Infinite Hero has granted an additional $65,000 in funding to continue the research for the Precision Veteran-Tailored Cognitive Rehabilitation: Customizing Brain Modulation by Personal Profiles of Cognitive Functioning. This work aims to advance personalized brain modulation for individuals with mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (mTBI+PTSD), and cognitive challenges. The findings show the therapeutic benefits of using brain modulation for cognitive rehabilitation, and previous IHF funding helped to reveal differences in the attention systems of individuals with mTBI+PTSD. After expanding the capabilities of their machine-learning based brain mapping algorithm, the team identified a common dysfunctional network that may serve as the optimal brain modulation target for cognitive rehabilitation. They now seek to determine if modulating two distinct brain areas results in differential improvements in working memory and if they can create spatial targeting atlases that provide an anatomical roadmap to optimize cognitive skills. These results will guide future research in developing a brain modulation target atlas and enable accessible, precision rehabilitation that enhances cognitive functioning. The IHF pilot award will support two key advancements in cognitive rehabilitation for individuals with mTBI+PTSD: identifying a potential treatment biomarker and enhancing access to precision cognitive rehabilitation.
Currently, no clinical measures link brain physiology to the cognitive challenges people face with mTBI+PTSD. However, the early findings suggest that the cingulo-opercular network (CON) may serve as a treatment biomarker. Thus, they will compare gains in working memory when iTBS is delivered to the precisely located R-DLPFC DAN+CON versus the individually located DAN+CON target, which may lie outside the R-DLPFC. Advancing our understanding of how the iTBS signal propagates to yield optimal gains in working memory could address the need for an iTBS treatment biomarker and improved outcomes for people with mTBI+PTSD suffering from persistent cognitive difficulties. The study also aims to improve access to precision and/or individualized iTBS by assessing whether the optimal DAN+CON iTBS target locations, the precision or individualized locations, are consistent across individuals. If consistent, this would support developing a standard precise brain targeting atlas. However, significant variation would indicate the need for highly individualized iTBS target identification, requiring further research to delineate subgroups with similar neural profiles. These findings will guide the creation of a prototype brain atlas, serving as an anatomical “roadmap” for mTBI+PTSD, identifying the best site for optimal cognitive gains from a single iTBS session. They will use the pilot data atlas prototype to support the development and validation of the brain atlas in a larger-scale study, ultimately creating a comprehensive tool for precision iTBS for use with people with mTBI+PTSD suffering from persisting cognitive difficulties.
The Funding
$75,000
2021
$65,000
2024