Center for Neural Systems Restoration Visiting Lecture Series - Dr. Karunesh Ganguly
Thursday, January 30, 2025 11am to 12pm
About this Event
6565 Fannin Street
Modulating ensemble dynamics and motor skills
During motor learning, brief breaks in practice lasting seconds to minutes can facilitate rapid performance gains during early motor sequence learning. However, the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. Recording neural activity in the motor cortex of non-human primates during a visuomotor sequence task, we observed that task-related neural co-firing patterns were reactivated during brief breaks. The rate and content of these reactivations predicted subsequent performance improvements. Reactivations correlated positively with cortical ripples (80-120 Hz oscillations) and negatively with beta (β) bursts (13-30 Hz oscillations), which became dominant as learning plateaued. Applying 20 Hz epidural alternating current stimulation (ACS) reduced reactivation rates and eliminated performance gains in a phase-specific and dose-dependent manner. These findings suggest that task-related reactivations during breaks are drivers of performance gains, while β bursts may stabilize performance by competing with this process.
Short bio
Karunesh Ganguly MD, PhD is a neurologist and a scientist at the University of California, San Francisco and the SFVA Medical Center. He completed his MD/PhD degrees at the University of California, San Diego. He then completed his internal medicine and neurology residency at the University of California, San Francisco. Concurrently with his residency, he conducted research into the development of ‘Brain-Machine Interfaces’ at UC Berkeley. His clinical expertise is on the neurological rehabilitation of patients with motor impairments. He is also the Director of the Neural Engineering & Plasticity Lab. The laboratory’s basic and translational research program focuses on the development of technology to improve motor function. His laboratory’s work is funded by the NIH and the VHA. He has been awarded the PECASE Award and was selected for a New Innovator Award. He was also recent awarded the Outstanding Neurorehabilitation Scientist Award by the American Society of Neurorehabilitation.