Preterm and term infants with brain injury frequently have difficulty learning to feed by mouth. Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) may be paired with the motor activity of feeding to boost brain circuits involved with feeding. This study will test a taVNS-paired bottle system in a blinded, randomized, controlled trial in infants who have reached term age and failed to learn to feed. Our preliminary data indicates that most infants improve their volume of oral feeds with the BabySTrong system, and 50-70% achieve full oral feeds and avoid placement of a gastrostomy tube (G-tube) or home nasogastric tube. The BabySTrong feeding system may improve oral feeding volumes and help infants and their families avoid a long hospital stay while trying to learn to feed.

The study is a 48-week clinical study to compare study medication NTX-001 used intraoperatively to promote nerve regeneration compared to the standard of care on surgery for acute nerve damage in the hand on subjects between the ages of 18 to 80 years old. Subjects who present with sever nerve damage of the hand and need surgery to repair the nerve damage within 48 hours of injury. After surgery, subjects will complete 12 total study visits: 6 in person and 6 additional telehealth visits. During the in-person clinic visits, subjects will be assessed by physical examinations, vital signs, safety laboratory assessment and complete questionnaires. Subjects with motor/mixed motor injury will also complete an EMG and NCV assessments with an Occupational Therapist at 2 of the in-person visits. During the telehealth visits, subjects will complete questionnaires.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between reflexes in the leg and the presence of neuropathic pain. The researchers are recruiting 30 individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) total, 15 individuals with neuropathic pain due to SCI and 15 individuals without neuropathic pain. For this portion of the study, there are 2 visits. The first visit will examine cutaneous reflexes in the leg. During the second visit, the study team will assess sensation in the leg and administer questionnaires about pain, functioning, and quality of life.

The purpose of the second part of the study is to examine the effect of reflex training in the leg to decrease neuropathic pain. For this, the researchers are recruiting 15 individuals with neuropathic pain due to spinal cord injury to participate in the reflex training procedure. The study involves approximately 50 visits with a total study duration of about 6.5 months (3 months for baseline and training phases followed by 1 month and 3 month follow-up visits).

Rehabilitation interventions including resistance training, functional and task-specific therapy, and gait or locomotor training have been shown to be successful in improving motor function in individuals with neurologic disease or injury. Recent investigations conducted in our laboratory indicate that intense resistance training coupled with task-specific functional training lead to significant gains in functional motor recovery. Similarly, gait rehabilitation involving intense treadmill training and/or task-specific locomotor training has been shown to be effective in improving locomotor ability. However, the underlying neural adaptations associated with these therapeutic approaches are not well understood. Our primary goal is to understand the motor control underpinnings of neurologic rehabilitation in order to apply this knowledge to future generations of therapeutic interventions.