Non-Invasive Neuromodulation Laboratory Research Core

“What is TMS?” video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpSKEve2Fzk

NNL News

Name the TMS Robot Contest

Two NNL facilities dedicated to pediatric neuromodulation research have been established at the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain. One of these labs includes a robotized TMS system, of which there are only a handful in the U.S. and 40 in the world! We invited the community to celebrate with us by sponsoring a “Name the TMS Robot Contest,” inspired by the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s annual Name a Snowplow contest. We've narrowed the name submissions to our top selections and invite you to vote now on your favorite name!

Research assistants Adam Behun (l) and Shreya Srinivasan (r) after an afternoon of training in the pediatric NNL at MIDB!

Welcoming Undergraduate Research Assistants

This Fall semester, we have two Undergraduate Research Assistants (RA) joining the NNL team: Adam Behun and Shreya Srinivasan! These RAs will soon be available to assist our lab users with data collection, entry, and analysis. Please join us in extending a warm welcome to them!

Our new NNL logo

Coming Soon: NNL Website

The NNL is actively working on creating a distinct website to provide information for researchers and community members alike! Once launched, laboratory guidelines, documents, photos, and virtual tours will be accessible there. In the meantime, you can find additional information about our pediatric laboratories on the Neuromodulation Hub webpage on the MIDB website.

NNL Equipment and Services

Expand all

NNL Equipment and Services

NNL EQUIPMENT & SERVICES

NNL Services and Equipment

Services provided by the NNL include but are not limited to:

Facilities
Equipment
Technical support
Administrative support
Protocol design consultation
Equipment operation training
Data collection assistance
Data processing and analysis assistance
Community engagement activities

The Non-invasive Neuromodulation Laboratories are equipped with advanced non-invasive neurotechnologies including:

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS): The Magstim BiStim² and Magstim 200² set (The Magstim Co. Ltd., Carmarthenshire, UK)
Repetitive TMS (rTMS) including theta burst stimulation (TBS): The Magstim Super Rapid2 Plus1 (The Magstim Co. Ltd., Carmarthenshire, UK)
Robotized neuronavigation TMS (robotic nTMS): Axilum Robotics optical tracking system for TMS-Cobot TS with NDI Vega IR camera for spatial positioning and coil orientation (MagVenture Inc., Alpharetta, Georgia, USA)
Real-time closed-loop TMS-EEG platform: BrainProduct Turbolink, BOSSDEVICE, actiCHamp 64-ch active cap EEG amplifier (Brain Products GmbH, Gilching, DE)
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), and transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS): Starstim® 8 NE wireless transcranial electrical stimulation system with 8-ch wireless EEG amplifier (Neuroelectrics SL, Massachusetts, USA & Neuroelectrics, Barcelona, ESP)
Electroencephalogram, EEG acquisition systems:
- Brain Products BrainAMP MR Plus amplification system, 64-ch BrainCaps with Multitrodes (Brain Products GmbH, Gilching, DE)
- BrainVision actiCHamp Plus amplification system, 64-ch actiCAP slim active electrode system caps (Brain Products GmbH, Gilching, DE)
- EGI Geodesic EEG System (GES) 400 amplifier, 64-ch Hydrocel Geodesic Sensor Nets (GSN), and Physio16 input box for integrated recording of physiological measurements such as ECG (Electrical Geodesics, Inc., Eugene, Oregon, USA)
Neuronavigation system: frameless stereotactic Brainsight II neuronavigation system (Rogue Research Inc., Quebec, CA).
Electromyogram, EMG acquisition system: 4-ch bipolar EMG pre-amplifier (Y03-2, Motion Lab Systems, Inc., Baton Rouge, LA) (Gain: 300, band-pass filter: 20~2000Hz)
Electrical stimulator: Digitimer DS7A constant current isolated stimulator (Digitimer Ltd, Hertfordshire, UK)
Medical grade isolation transformer: ISB-100W medical grade isolation transformer (Power Sources Unlimited, Inc, Massachusetts, USA).
System control platforms:
- CED Micro1401-4 data acquisition systems (Cambridge Electronic Design Limited, Milton, Cambridge, GB) with waveform capture rates up to 1MHz with 16-bit resolution and a 32-bit RISC processors
- CED Signal Software Version 7 (Cambridge Electronic Design Limited, Milton, Cambridge,GB), for sweep-based, real-time data acquisition, monitoring, analysis, and external equipment control

A wide variety of excitability assessments and neuromodulation paradigms are supported in the NNL including:

Cortical excitability assessment:
- Single pulse: basic excitability assessment including single pulse test, S-R curve, CSP, and cortical grid mapping
- Paired pulse: SICI, ICF, SICF, LICI, IHI, I-wave curve, ISI curve, CI curve and SAI
Neuromodulation interventions:
- Low-frequency rTMS (inhibitory) and sham
- High-frequency rTMS (facilitatory) and sham
- Continuous TBS (cTBS) (inhibitory) and sham
- Intermittent TBS (iTBS) (facilitatory) and sham
- Robotic neuronavigated TMS
- Paired Associative Stimulation (PAS): combines low-frequency rTMS with peripheral electrical stimulation allows the recording of the N20 sensory-evoked potential (SEP) by customized fast EEG acquisition method, which is used as a reference to induce LTD-/LTP-like PAS neuromodulation intervention (inhibitory and facilitatory, respectively)
- HD-tDCS and sham, 8-ch
- HD-tACS and sham, 8-ch
- HD-tRNS and sham, 8-ch
Sensory function evaluation:
- N20 SEP latency
- Temporal discrimination test
- Electrical stimulation perceptual threshold
Customized experiment protocol:
- The system control platform is highly customizable to any new/tailored protocol design

Non-Invasive Neuromodulation Laboratory Research Core

“What is TMS?” video

NNL Equipment and Services

NNL EQUIPMENT & SERVICES

NNL CORE TEAM

NNL Photos

Non-Invasive Neuromodulation Laboratory Research Core

“What is TMS?” video

NNL Equipment and Services

+ NNL EQUIPMENT & SERVICES

+ NNL CORE TEAM

NNL EQUIPMENT & SERVICES

NNL CORE TEAM