QBAR CORE – PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT The Quantitative Behavioral Assessment & Rehabilitation (QBAR) Core is a distinctive, defining activity for the COBRE that provides essential expertise and develops unique tools and methods to enhance the effectiveness of COBRE researchers. QBAR also provides training and career development to all COBRE investigators, especially those who do not have primary expertise in the areas of 1) measurement of behavior/function and 2) rehabilitation. Our overall goal is for QBAR to enable COBRE investigators to become leaders in the field by incorporating innovative measures of behavior and function, such that QBAR accrues regional and national recognition as a leading research resource for restoration of neural-based function (RNF). In Phase 3, QBAR will adapt to supporting a broader range of populations (beyond stroke recovery) and to performing the substantial work required to build out the new QBAR laboratories in the new COBRE space. QBAR’s specific aims are: 1) Enable outstanding RNF research by providing services for assessment and rehabilitation of neural- based function. Specifically, we provide a) Quantitative Behavioral Assessment – enabling COBRE investigators to creatively measure behavior and its physiological correlates to quantify impairments to function and changes after interventions, in order to ultimately guide individualized rehabilitation treatments; b) Rehabilitation – enabling all COBRE investigators to study the experience-dependent nature of neural plasticity by standardizing experience to optimize the treatment effects of restorative therapies by using current state-of-the-art methods and/or developing novel tools or methods; and c) Theory-based Outcome Measures – by continually developing innovative methodologies and analysis techniques, QBAR will generate high quality, reproducible data to help identify behavioral “biomarkers” that allow tests of hypotheses of the underlying mechanisms of impairment and recovery. 2) Training and Career Development –The overall COBRE training goal is to nurture scientists skilled in the multiple domains needed to investigate and exploit inherent plasticity, develop and translate novel mechanism-based, experience-dependent interventional strategies, and improve restoration of neural-based function. 3) Sustainability – Our key for sustainability will be to increase the user base of QBAR. During Phase 3, we will expand QBAR’s national stature as a resource in behavioral assessment and rehabilitation methods for RNF with emphasis on expanding expertise in using and developing cutting-edge theory-based outcome measures (behavioral “biomarkers”) to guide the individualization of rehabilitation approaches.