Neural Plasticity Laboratory

Gail Forrest, PhD, directs the Neural Plasticity Laboratory, part of the Tim and Caroline Reynolds Center for Spinal Stimulation where she is also director at Kessler Foundation. The Lab team works collaboratively with over 30 internal and external partners – from neuroscientists and engineers to surgeons and cardiologists – to investigate the impact of transcutaneous and epidural spinal stimulation and brain stimulation on gains in motor control, function and secondary complications for individuals paralyzed by spinal cord injury (SCI).

Spinal cord injury disrupts motor and sensory pathways as well as the autonomic nervous system that regulates heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, balance, bowel and bladder control, and sexual function. The team strives to ameliorate these secondary complications on sensory, motor, and autonomic nervous system functions that individuals with SCI often encounter. Team researchers review how state-of-the-art technologies – bilateral magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, muscle biopsies, and electromyography – measure impact and aim to understand how stimulation of the brain and spinal cord affects recovery.

Future directions include gaining a better understanding of the associated mechanisms, further optimization of stimulation parameters, coordinating the multisystem effects of neuromodulation, and enhancing knowledge of its benefits and limitations.