The Neural Control of Movement Lab (NCM) at ETH Zürich, in collaboration with the Paralab at the Spinal Cord Injury Centre at Balgrist University Hospital, is conducting a neuroimaging experiment aimed at identifying how the brain changes following a tetraplegic spinal cord injury. Following spinal cord injury, the brain is deprived of a major source of sensory input. This is thought to lead to extensive reorganisation in brain areas containing detailed map-like body representations (e.g. the primary somatosensory cortex), such that neighbouring body-part representations ‘invade’ the area deprived of input and/or output. This assumption of drastic reorganisation has been highly influential both in the neuroscientific literature and the clinic. However, using a novel experimental approach in arm amputees, it was recently demonstrated that the functional representation of the missing hand is preserved even decades after amputation. In the current project, we aim to understand these seemingly contradictory processes in further detail. We will combine functional MRI with behavioural and clinical testing to understand which determinants allow sensory representations in S1 to be maintained and which determinants drive reorganisation following sensory input loss.
The goal of the thesis student will be to help develop the testing battery. The student will be in charge of testing patients and healthy control participants. The student will (together with a research assistant) make the testing schedule and organise further aspects associated with the testing. The student will further assist with the fMRI assessments. The student will analyse behavioural and clinical tests with the ultimate goal to relate this to brain measurements. Since this project requires extensive training, _**we are only able to consider MSc students who aim to join this project for a minimum duration of 6 months (i.e. as a fulltime thesis project)_**. This placement can start from September.
The Neural Control of Movement Lab (NCM) at ETH Zürich, in collaboration with the Paralab at the Spinal Cord Injury Centre at Balgrist University Hospital, is conducting a neuroimaging experiment aimed at identifying how the brain changes following a tetraplegic spinal cord injury. Following spinal cord injury, the brain is deprived of a major source of sensory input. This is thought to lead to extensive reorganisation in brain areas containing detailed map-like body representations (e.g. the primary somatosensory cortex), such that neighbouring body-part representations ‘invade’ the area deprived of input and/or output. This assumption of drastic reorganisation has been highly influential both in the neuroscientific literature and the clinic. However, using a novel experimental approach in arm amputees, it was recently demonstrated that the functional representation of the missing hand is preserved even decades after amputation. In the current project, we aim to understand these seemingly contradictory processes in further detail. We will combine functional MRI with behavioural and clinical testing to understand which determinants allow sensory representations in S1 to be maintained and which determinants drive reorganisation following sensory input loss.
The goal of the thesis student will be to help develop the testing battery. The student will be in charge of testing patients and healthy control participants. The student will (together with a research assistant) make the testing schedule and organise further aspects associated with the testing. The student will further assist with the fMRI assessments. The student will analyse behavioural and clinical tests with the ultimate goal to relate this to brain measurements. Since this project requires extensive training, _**we are only able to consider MSc students who aim to join this project for a minimum duration of 6 months (i.e. as a fulltime thesis project)_**. This placement can start from September.
**Tasks**
Develop the behavioural testing
Create a testing schedule
Administer clinical and behavioural tests
Provide assistance with MRI testing
Data organisation and analysis
**Your Profile**
Requirements
Student in Health Sciences and Technology, Psychology, Biomedical Imaging, Neuroscience, Human Movement Sciences, Biology, or related fields of study
Swiss-German speaker, fluent in English speaking and writing
self-organised and independent
disciplined
reliable
friendly and warm personality (able to make chit-chat, while sticking to a tight testing schedule)
**better to have:**
experience in patient communication
experience in processing data
experience with Matlab or other programming language
Good knowledge of statistics and experience in analysing data
**Tasks**
Develop the behavioural testing Create a testing schedule Administer clinical and behavioural tests Provide assistance with MRI testing Data organisation and analysis
**Your Profile**
Requirements
Student in Health Sciences and Technology, Psychology, Biomedical Imaging, Neuroscience, Human Movement Sciences, Biology, or related fields of study Swiss-German speaker, fluent in English speaking and writing self-organised and independent disciplined reliable friendly and warm personality (able to make chit-chat, while sticking to a tight testing schedule)
**better to have:**
experience in patient communication experience in processing data experience with Matlab or other programming language Good knowledge of statistics and experience in analysing data
Please submit a short motivation letter, a CV and record of your studies to:
Dr. Sanne Kikkert
Neural Control of Movement Lab, NCM Lab
ETH Zürich
Sannne.kikkert@hest.ethz.ch
Please submit a short motivation letter, a CV and record of your studies to: Dr. Sanne Kikkert Neural Control of Movement Lab, NCM Lab ETH Zürich Sannne.kikkert@hest.ethz.ch