GRK 2783:  Neuromodulation of Motor and Cognitive Function in Brain Health and Disease

• Subject Area: Psychology ; Neurosciences
• Term: since 2022
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 456732630

The increase in life-expectancy leads to a continuous rise in the number of people with neurological disorders. The associated damage to the central nervous system is often accompanied by cognitive and motor dysfunctions. Although treatments have improved over the last years, the majority of patients show, to some extent, permanent functional disabilities. Non-invasive neuromodulation has gained increasing attention to promote recovery of function after damage to the central nervous system. Although promising, neuromodulatory approaches are faced with several challenges including large interindividual variability in treatment success and insufficient knowledge on the neural mechanisms that co-occur with improvement of function. Aim of the research training group (RTG) is to provide a transdisciplinary research environment that drives innovation in neuromodulation to pave the way towards patient tailored interventions in rehabilitation of neurological disorders. The effectiveness and understanding of neural mechanisms of neuromodulation will be advanced in three domains: i) electric/ magnetic modulation, ii) pharmacological modulation, and iii) neurofeedback. Research will focus on modulation of motor function and interference control, which are both relevant for stroke and Parkinson’s disease. To capture and comprehensively describe treatment outcome of neuromodulatory interventions, students will have access to state of the art neuroimaging facilities. They will learn to assess behavioral and neural readouts derived from functional magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography. In addition, the research will integrate new developments in biomedical engineering such as mobile brain imaging or experience sampling as promising outcome measures of neuromodulation in daily life. Clinical translation will be fostered through collaboration with rehabilitation centers. The educational program will rely on the longstanding expertise of structured PhD programs at UOL and an existing international teaching environment. The broad range of courses and topics will support the training of PhD students who come from various fields such as neuropsychology, clinical neuroscience, and biomedical engineering. We will provide attractive international research networks and support them on their way to early academic independence. In doing so, we will educate the next generation of scientifically well trained future leaders in research or clinical care. PIs contributing to this RTG have an excellent, complementary research profile covering neuromodulation, neuroimaging, neuropsychology, biomedical engineering, and health systems research. The RTG therefore builds upon and broadens the existing excellence in neurosensory science and health systems research at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the UOL with the aim to advance neuromodulation and rehabilitation research and education.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg
• Co-Applicant Institution: Universität zu Köln
• Participating Institution: Gesundheit Nord gGmbH - Klinikverbund Bremen; Rehabilitationszentrum Oldenburg GmbH
• Spokesperson: Professorin Dr. Christiane M. Thiel
• Participating Researchers: Privatdozentin Dr. Anna Levke Brütt; Professor Dr. Stefan Debener; Professor Dr. Christian Grefkes-Hermann; Professor Dr.-Ing. Andreas Hein; Professor Dr. Christoph Herrmann; Professorin Dr. Andrea Hildebrandt; Professor Dr. Helmut Hildebrandt; Dr. Cornelia Kranczioch; Professor Dr. Jochem Rieger; Professor Dr. Karsten Witt; Dr. Jale Özyurt