The overall mission of the Neural Plasticity and Neurorehabilitation (NPNL) Lab is to enhance neural plasticity in a wide population of individuals in order to improve their quality of life and engagement in meaningful activities. We study how the brain changes in response to different events and test new technologies and methods to enhance brain plasticity and recovery after diseases such as stroke.
Specifically, the Neural Plasticity and Neurorehabilitation Lab aims to:
characterize and predict neural plasticity changes in healthy individuals and in individuals after stroke throughout the process of learning or recovery using big data approaches;
enhance neural plasticity or neural recovery in individuals using noninvasive brain stimulation, brain–computer interfaces, virtual reality, and/or novel behavioral paradigms; and
personalize the use of plasticity-inducing paradigms in order to capitalize on each individual’s unique learning or recovery potential.
The goal of the proposed work is to improve clinical predictions of stroke recovery and, subsequently, precision rehabilitation, by developing powerful statistical models that use routine, baseline clinical assessments (clinical MRIs, demographics, and behavior) to predict motor and cognitive stroke…
The neurobiology of post-stroke sensorimotor recovery is not fully understood. Current research on stroke recovery focuses on two spatial levels of brain injury: the focal level (i.e., the lesion and brain structures directly affected by the stroke, such as the corticospinal tract) and the network…
The primary objective of this proposed project is to establish USC as a world leader in the use of virtual technologies for healthcare, through the expansion of the USC SensoriMotor Assessment and Rehabilitation Training in Virtual Reality Center (USC SMART-VR Center), a multidisciplinary center…
The overall goal of this project is to provide personalized, precise rehabilitation medicine to individuals after stroke by developing accurate predictive models that help detect who will recover and best respond to different types of post-stroke treatments. Using a novel meta-analytic approach,…
This pilot study will examine how Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) works in post-stroke brain recovery in order to gain critical insight as to how to maximize this promising technology for rehabilitation. Stroke is a leading cause of adult long-term disability worldwide. Despite…
This grant will focus on the development and testing of novel systems that integrate virtual and augmented reality with electroencephalography (EEG)-based neurofeedback.
This study will examine the preliminary effectiveness of a novel system that could provide an innovative new way for individuals with severe motor impairments after stroke, who cannot activate motor regions through volitional movement, to train and strengthen neural connections between the brain and…
S. C. Stuart, in
PCMag.com | March 8, 2018 At USC, Dr. Sook-Lei Liew is testing whether watching a virtual avatar that moves in response to brain commands can activate portions of the brain damaged by stroke
Zara Greenbaum, in
USC Today | February 21, 2018 Brain scans from stroke patients are being downloaded by researchers around the world to predict the most efficient therapies
Abrar Al-Heeti, in
CNET | October 15, 2017 Researchers at the University of Southern California are examining how virtual reality could promote brain plasticity and recovery
IEEE Xplore | August 16, 2017 Suffering a stroke instantly changes a life, and it’s even more challenging when complications such as motor impairment occur. Researchers with backgrounds in neural plasticity and mixed realities recently came together to develop a low-cost, virtual reality motor rehabilitation solution, and early results look promising.
Katharine Gammon, in
USC Today | June 12, 2017 Sook-Lei Liew builds a prototype with a laptop, an off-the-shelf VR rig, a $9 swim cap and a brain-computer interface system
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