MEDSCHOOL, MEM, Research, TIRP

A Legacy of Research

If there is interest in volunteering for any of the TIRP research projects please contact Dr. Rapp or Dr. Keyser.  Contact information follows.

TRANSCRANIAL MAGNETIC STIMULATION CLINICAL TRIAL

A Prospective, Double Blind, Randomized, Sham-Controlled, Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Biometrics-Guided Magnetic EEG Resonance Therapy (MeRT) treatment of Persistent Post-Concussive Symptoms (PPCS) Following Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

This clinical trial is funded by the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). The Newport Brain Research Laboratory (NBRL US) is the sponsor of record with the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Initially there were two data acquisition sites: Tampa and San Diego. The MacDill Air Force Base site in Tampa is now closing, and we anticipate opening sites at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and Camp Pendleton in California

In addition to an extensive battery of patient report questionnaires and a neuropsychological assessment, the protocol incorporates a pre- and post-treatment electrophysiological study [e.g., heart rate variability, electroencephalographic (EEG) and cognitive event-related potentials, etc.]. The inclusion of event related potentials in addition to industry standard patient reported outcomes questionnaires is a departure from common practice in TBI/concussion clinical trials. These data open the possibility of giving some measure of insight into the pathophysiological basis of these disorders. Symptom questionnaires alone cannot do this.

DEVELOPMENT OF OCCUPATIONAL LIMITS GOVERNING EXPOSURE TO MULTIPLE BLAST EVENTS

This project is funded by the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command USAMRMC and is being conducted in collaboration with the Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) and National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE) at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC). It includes magnetic encephalographic (MEG) event-related potentials and imaging technologies in a population of military breachers (personnel who use low-level explosives as part of their normal duties)  and investigates the physiological effects of multiple non-catastrophic blast exposures. While it is recognized that some individuals in this community are symptomatic, very little is known about the underlying pathophysiology presented by these individuals. TIRP's role includes the design and implementation of the ERP protocols used in the NICoE MEG facility, the network analysis of these data, and the statistical integration across components of the study.

INFORMATION DYNAMICS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

The objective of this research program is the construction and validation of approximate continuous time measures of information movement in complex extended networks. The research program is constructed in four steps:

1. Approximate continuous time entropy rate and negentropy rate,
2. Approximate continuous time measures of directed information transfer,
3. Continuous time measures of dynamics in extended complex networks, and
4. Identification of dynamically significant time-scale dependent transitions in network behavior

The methods being developed in this project will be applied to clinical trial data and to data obtained in the research study. It should be recognized that these methods are broadly applicable, and since their publication in the physics literature (including the Physical Review), they are being investigated by colleagues in other disciplines.