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Last update:
04.06.2012

Ph.D. Program > Examiners > Walter Paulus

Walter Paulus

Professor, University of Göttingen

Dr. med., Heinrich-Heine Universität Düsseldorf, 1978
Resident in Neurology, University of Düsseldorf, 1978 - 1979
National Hospital for Nervous Diseases London, 1980
University of Düsseldorf 81 - 82
Alfried Krupp Hospital 82 - 84
Senior registrar Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich 1984 - 1992
Habilitation (Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology) in Munich 1987
Prof. and Head of the Department of Clinical Neurophysiology 1992

Major Research Interests:

Walter Paulus

Neuroplastic changes are defined as any enduring changes in the organisation of the central nervous system such as the strength of connections, representational patterns, or neuronal properties, either morphological or functional. At present we study how to induce and control plasticity in the human nervous system, and to derive new therapeutic strategies from this research.

Present research focuses on transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) (5) and transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) (3). TMS induces a short electric current in the human brain. It may be used to measure excitability changes (5) in the motor cortex or alterations in visual perception thresholds (4). It may also induce plastic changes of excitability when used repetitively (rTMS). At present a multicenter blinded rTMS protocol is applied in epilepsy patients. TDCS offers the prospect of inducing LTD and LTP like effects in the human brain when applied at least with a stimulation duration of 3 minutes(3). At present we investigate underlying mechanisms both in human and animal experiments. TDCS induced changes in motor cortex excitability may be detected by functional MR imaging (1). Other functional imaging studies trace the epileptic focus in epileptic patients in space and time(2). We extended our research field to dopaminergic, and, in future to GABA-ergic stem cells for the prospect of treating patients with Parkinson´s disease and epilepsy.

Address:
Abteilung Klinische
Neurophysiologie
Georg-August-
Universität Göttingen
Robert Koch Str. 40
37075 Göttingen
Germany

phone:+49-551-39 6650
fax:+49-551-39 8126
e-mail:
Further Information:
http://www. neurologie.
uni-goettingen.de/
neurophysio.htm

Selected Recent Publications:

Baudewig J, Nitsche M A, Paulus W and Frahm J (2000) Regional modulation of BOLD MRI responses to human sensorimotor activation by transcranial direct current stimulation. Magnetic resonance in medicine 2001: 1196-1200

Herrendorf G, Steinhoff B J, Kolle R, Baudewig J, Waberski T D, Buchner H and Paulus W (2000) Dipole-source analysis in a realistic head model in patients with focal epilepsy. Epilepsia 41: 71-80

Nitsche M A and Paulus W (2000) Excitability changes induced in the human motor cortex by weak transcranial direct current stimulation. J Physiol 527: 633-9

Paulus W, Korinth S, Wischer S and Tergau F (1999) Differential inhibition of chromatic and achromatic perception by transcranial magnetic stimulation of the human visual cortex. Neuroreport 10: 1245-8

Ziemann U, Tergau F, Wassermann E M, Wischer S, Hildebrandt J and Paulus W (1998) Demonstration of facilitatory I wave interaction in the human motor cortex by paired transcranial magnetic stimulation. J Physiol (Lond) 511: 181-90