Research Laboratories

Neural Control of Movement Laboratory

Director: Susanne M. Morton, PT, Ph.D.

Location

Room 1-155 Medical Education Building
319-335-9808

Key Personnel

  • Shih-Chiao Tseng, PT, MS, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow
  • Douglas N. Savin, MPT, Graduate Student (University of Maryland)

Research Interests

The Neural Control of Movement Laboratory focuses on mechanisms of central nervous system control and adaptation of human movement. We are particularly interested in how the brain helps to generate walking patterns and modify these patterns quickly based on the environment, task goals, available sensory feedback and learning. We study the healthy population as well as individuals with various central nervous system dysfunctions, especially stroke, cerebellar disorders and Parkinson's disease. Control of movement is analyzed in detail by recording kinematics (trajectories, angles, etc.), kinetics (forces, torques, etc.), electromyography (muscle activity) and cortical excitability levels (via non-invasive transcranial magnetic stimulation) from behaving human subjects.

Current Projects

  1. Interlimb Coordination and Locomotor Impairments Following Stroke
    • Effects of corticospinal tract lesions on human lower extremity coordination
    • Spinal versus supraspinal contributions to interlimb coordination during locomotion
  2. Mechanisms of Motor Adaptation and Motor Learning
    • Motor cortical versus cerebellar contributions to motor learning
    • Mechanisms of cerebellar motor adaptations
    • Using motor adaptation to enhance long-term recovery of walking post-stroke
  3. Motor cortical interhemipheric effects in health and disease
    • Role of transcortical connections and ipsilateral motor cortical structures in bilateral leg movements in individuals with post-stroke hemiparesis

Major Equipment

  • Three dimensional motion capture system (Optotrak, Northern Digital Inc.)
  • Transcranial magnetic stimulation (MagStim)
  • Surface electromyography system, (MA-300, Motion Labs Systems)

Funding Sources

  • NIH (NICHD / NCMRR) K01 HD050369 (current)
  • Foundation for Physical Therapy (past)