CHINA SCHOLARSHIP COUNCIL: Post-stroke changes in energy metabolism and neural representations of upper limb function after transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation

Details

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and its prevalence has increased in the recent decades. It is also a major cause of disability with approximately 80% of stroke survivors experience upper limb weakness and in 30-60% this persists at 6 months.

PhD candidates with background in either neuroscience, psychology, neuroimaging, computer science, physic or related subjects are welcome to join Professor Li Su’s research group studying cortical representations of upper limb function in patients after stroke, and how such representations change before and after a special treatment called transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS). To reveal neural representation of upper limb functions, a functional MRI (fMRI) paradigm will be applied to patients at baseline and three months after the tVNS treatment. A concurrent PET scan will assess energy metabolism in the brain too. This project will provide the first neuroimaging evidence that successful neurological recovery after stroke is associated with patterns of functional re-organisation that more closely represent the normal pre-morbid state. By following the patients over time, our functional neuroimaging will help understand whether tVNS is promoting desirable plasticity that is beneficial for stroke survivors in the long term.

The student will join an interdisciplinary team as a member of the mechanistic sub-study within a NIHR funded £1.9 million-pound multi-centre (20 UK centres) clinical trial investigating the efficacy of tVNS in upper limb motor recovery in stroke. This study aims to characterise the neuro-anatomical, energy metabolic and serological basis of a novel therapy that shows promising evidence as a potential treatment for arm weakness after stroke (Dawson et al, 2021; Sheharyar et al, 2021). This has several potential implications for further research and clinical practice including optimising the dose and duration of therapy and patient stratification.

The primary supervisor - Professor Li Su is the Chair of Neuroimaging in the Flagship Neuroscience Institute at Sheffield University and Principal Investigator (PI) in Department of Psychiatry at University of Cambridge. He applies innovative and original computational methods with the state-of-the-art brain imaging techniques to understand and develop treatments for neurological conditions. The second supervisor - Professor Arshad Majid is the Chair of Cerebrovascular Disease at the University of Sheffield, has been PI on a number of multicentre trials and is engaged in preclinical and clinical mechanistic studies of tVNS.

Entry Requirements:

Candidates must have a first or upper second class honours degree or significant research experience.  Neuroimaging experience and knowledge about stroke rehabilitation are desirable.

To be eligible for a CSC scholarship, you must:

• be applying to start a new full-time PhD programme at Sheffield
• have a strong academic background
• be a national of and reside in, mainland China (not including Hong Kong or Macau) – see CSC policies
• intend to return to China once your programme is completed
• hold a study offer from the University of Sheffield
• satisfy all of the CSC's selection criteria 

How to apply:

Please complete a University Postgraduate Research Application form available here: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate/phd/apply/applying

Please clearly state the prospective main supervisor in the respective box and select ‘School of Medicine & Population Health: Neuroscience’ as the department.

Proposed start date - October 2024

For further information on the CSC scheme please see - https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate/phd/scholarships/csc