Stimulating the brain

Tool to enable cross-disciplinary research at UMD

A valuable piece of equipment arrived at UMD last summer that will open up an array of research opportunities. The MagStim transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) device is commonly utilized in neuroscience research, but it is the first of its kind to be available on the Duluth campus.

TMS is a noninvasive brain stimulation device that uses an electromagnetic current to stimulate brain cells within the cerebral cortex (the outer layer of the brain) and cerebellum. According to Associate Professor Sharyl Samargia-Grivette, “It’s a valuable evaluation tool to measure and assess how active neurons are in a particular part of the brain.”

Sharyl Samargia-Grivette standing behind a student and is using the TMS

Samargia-Grivette has extensive experience using TMS in neurorehabilitation applications through the Non-invasive Neuromodulation Lab (NNL) on the Twin Cities campus. She is thrilled to have the equipment available at UMD.

Over the past three decades, TMS has been used to help better understand and compare brain differences between healthy individuals and those with conditions such as stroke, brain injury, addiction and depression. TMS as a treatment is FDA-approved to treat depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders, but is not yet approved for clinical use in neurorehabilitation. 

Samargia-Grivette plans to incorporate TMS measures into her research in neurorehabilitation following stroke and brain injury in the Neural Function and Recovery Lab. “We can use it to identify neurophysiological markers for diagnosis and as a benchmark for patient progress,” she explains. “We observe and record changes in patients who engage in rehabilitation (physical, occupational, and speech-language therapy), but TMS allows us to measure actual changes in the brain.”

Samargia-Grivette secured funding for the TMS system through a $30,000 Grant in Aid of Research, Artistry and Scholarship proposal with matching funds from her start-up package and a Technology Grant from the College of Education and Human Service Professions. Several faculty members across disciplines such as psychology, exercise science, and music plan to use the device in collaborative, multidisciplinary research projects.

More about Samargia-Grivette’s work