CLOSED-LOOP AFFERENT NERVE ELECTRICAL STIMULATION FOR REHABILITATION OF HAND FUNCTION IN SUBJECTS WITH INCOMPLETE SPINAL CORD INJURY

Peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) is commonly used to promote use-dependent cortical plasticity for rehabilitation of motor function in spinal cord injury. Pairing transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with PNS has been shown to increase motor evoked potentials most when the two stimuli are timed to arrive in the cortex simultaneously. This suggests that a mechanism of timing-dependent plasticity (TDP) may be a more effective method of promoting motor rehabilitation. The following thesis is the result of applying a brain-computer interface to apply PNS in closed-loop simultaneously to movement intention onset as measured by EEG of the sensorimotor cortex to test whether TDP can be induced in incomplete spinal cord injured individuals with upper limb motor impairment. 4 motor incomplete SCI subjects have completed 12 sessions of closed-loop PNS delivered over 4-6 weeks. Benefit was observed for every subject although not consistently across metrics. 3 out of 4 subjects exhibited increased maximum voluntary contraction force (MVCF) between first and last interventions for one or both hands. TMS-measured motor map volume increased for both hemispheres in one subject, and TMS center of gravity shifted in 3 subjects consistent with studies in which motor function improved or was restored. These observations suggest that rehabilitation using similar designs for responsive stimulation could improve motor impairment in SCI

Mediation of Non-suicidal Self-Injury Frequency by Aversion to NSSI Images on Implicit Association with Death and Suicide

Color poster with text, charts, and graphs.Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is the direct, deliberate destruction of one's own body tissue in the absence of suicidal intent. It has been shown to be a strong predictor of future suicide attempts, but research is lacking in concrete explanations of that relationship. The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (IPTS) proposes that one of the components of the path to suicide is capability for suicide, which can include fearlessness about death and pain. Engaging in NSSI may habituate a person to painful, potentially life-threatening stimuli and experiences. This could lower their aversion to self-injury related stimuli (e.g. images of self-cutting, burning, scraping), which may then increase their capability for suicide. Previous literature has shown a relationship between suicidal behaviors and decreased aversion to stimuli associated with death. One possible mechanism linking NSSI to suicidal behavior is low aversion to self-injury stimuli. In our study, we aimed to examine this relationship using a behavior assessment of suicide rather than rely on a self-report measure.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Program