neuroimmunology-2017-keynote

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Page 13
ISSN:2171-6625
September 18-19, 2017 | Dallas, USA
4th International Conference on
NEUROLOGY AND NEUROIMMUNOLOGY
Notes:
N eurological disorders are characterized by dysfunction
across multiple brain networks. Effective treatments
will require tools capable of modifying activity across
these networks. During normal learning the timing of
neuromodulator release regulates network plasticity. Brief
bursts of vagus nerve stimulation can safely trigger release
of these same plasticity-promoting neuromodulators in
patients to repair damaged networks. We have shown
that pairing VNS with specific experiences causes highly-
specific and long-lasting changes in sensory, motor, or
emotional networks. Pairing VNS with a specific movement
reorganizes motor cortex. Pairing VNS with a specific tone
frequency reorganizes auditory cortex. Pairing VNS with
speech selectively enhances the cortical response to specific
words. Pairing VNS with emotionally salient cues directs
plasticity in the amygdala. Animal models of chronic stroke,
traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, nerve damage,
PTSD, and tinnitus all make substantially greater gains when
VNS is timed to coincide with specific rehabilitation events
compared to identical rehabilitation without VNS. The four
clinical trials of this approach have all been successful.
Pairing VNS with physical therapy in chronic stroke patients
tripled the functional gains compared to controls who
received identical physical therapy without VNS. Pairing
VNS with tones in chronic tinnitus patients reduced tinnitus
severity and decreased hypersynchronous gamma activity
in auditory cortex, as in earlier animal studies. These results
demonstrate that pairing VNS with rehabilitation generates
highly specific network changes that treat the underlying
problem. Targeted Plasticity Therapy will be an important
addition to the growing toolbox of technology to facilitate
study and repair of the human brain. Millions of lives
were saved once scientists developed effective adjuvants
(aluminum salts) that made it possible to direct plasticity
in the immune system. Like vaccine technology, Targeted
Plasticity Therapy is a platform technology that can be
applied to many conditions.
Speaker Biography
Michael Paul kilgard has his training in Biochemistry and Genetics at UC Berkely and in
Neuroscience at UC San Francisco. He is the Margaret Fonde Jonnson Professor and the
Associate Director of the Texas Biomedical Device Center. He has published more than
90 papers in peer reviewed journals, including Nature, Science, Neuron, and Stroke. He
holds 23 US patents and regularly reviews for the NIH. His work is currently supported
by DARPA, NINDS, NIDCD, Wings for Life Spinal Cord Research Foundation, and the W
W Caruth, Jr. Foundation Fund at Communities Foundation of Texas.
e:
Michael Paul kilgard
University of Texas at Dallas, USA
Directing neural plasticity to understand and treat neurological disease
Michael Paul kilgard, J Neurol Neurosci, 8:5
DOI: 10.21767/2171-6625-C1-001