Moving the needle on motor control after spinal cord injury

One of the most formidable tasks for people who experience a spinal cord injury (SCI) is regaining control over their body movements. Such control allows them to hold a mug or use a computer, for instance — tasks that people without SCI usually take for granted. At UB’s Motor Control and Rehabilitation Laboratory, researchers study techniques that could lead to more effective therapies for regaining that control.

Led by Hang Jin Jo, assistant professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Science, School of Public Health and Health Professions, the lab team employs advanced technology to find therapies that could be used to improve motor control after SCI. Jo’s research interests focus on studying how the brain controls movements in healthy people, as well as in individuals with neurological impairments such as spinal cord injury and stroke by employing biomechanical techniques, non-invasive brain stimulation, electrophysiology and neuroimaging. 

Jo works closely in the lab with research scientist Francisco Benavides, who focuses his research on motor control, with an expertise in transcranial magnetic stimulation techniques. He and Jo have been working to improve the available therapies for people with SCI for many years, albeit through different paths until their collaboration began about five years ago.

Jo’s current research focus grew from her background in physical therapy and motor control.

“I did some clinical studies,” she says, “and I wanted to apply what I learned to patients with spinal cord injury.”

Benavides’ research interests emerged after he graduated from medical school. “I wanted research opportunities after med school,” he explains, “and I’ve been researching spinal cord injury for more than 15 years.”

The Motor Control and Rehabilitation Laboratory team also includes research students Raisa Togani and Jinsun Kim, who are both exercise science majors.

The lab team is currently undertaking a neuromodulation study with transcranial magnetic stimulation, which they hope will move the needle on available therapies. The study looks at a procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate neurons in the brain. The team compares the differences in responses in muscles in people with and without spinal cord injury with the goal of developing rehabilitation therapies that can improve the connections between brain and muscle in those with SCI.

The data that results from recording participants’ movements when their brain is stimulated produce a wave form on a computer screen. According to Benavides, the wave forms represent “motor evoked potentials: electrical signals recorded from muscle tissue in response to stimulation of the motor cortex,” the part of the brain that generates signals directing the body’s movements.

Jo and Benavides are focused on the outcomes of their research on actual patients with SCI. They believe that successful development of the lab’s neuromodulation approaches will be able to strengthen the remaining connections in the spinal cord after SCI, which may lead to increased ability to generate movement.

“The team are excited about the potential beneficial effect of our research and the positive impact it might make on SCI patients that we work with,” Jo says.