Simon Gandevia


Prof Simon Gandevia selects his “Paper of the Year” for 2017

How do we learn things? Sometimes learning occurs over many trials but other times it occurs after single episodes. The traditional view of learning has invoked Hebbian plasticity (Hebb 1949). Here, the concept is that “neurones that wire together, fire together”. Enhanced firing of a post-synaptic cell is thought to […]


Recovery from stroke after more than 20 years

Much can be learned from case studies of individual patients. This has been shown more than once in the field of stroke research.  The observations by the illustrious neuroanatomist Dr. Brodal of his own stroke are an example (Brodal 1973). A paper recently published in the Journal of Neurophysiology provides […]


2015 Highlights from the Motor Impairment Group at NeuRA

Members of the Motor Impairment Research Program conducted a randomized controlled trial to assess whether step training can improve physical and neuropsychological measures associated with falls in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). 50 people with MS participated in the trial in which intervention group participants (n = 28) performed step […]


Documenting Motor Impairment and the risk of falling with ageing and in clinical groups

Ageing decreases exercise performance and is frequently accompanied by reductions in cognitive performance. Deterioration in the physiological capacity to stand, walk and exercise leads to falling over.  This can signify a serious deterioration in sensorimotor control.  In the elderly, falling leads to serious morbidity and mortality with major costs to society.  […]


2014 year in review – Evolution, Australiana and the passing of a great physiologist

Here we highlight some 2014 messages from the Motor Impairment team.  This is the final one of our summaries for 2014. We have posted earlier messages on the blog about: 2014 year in review – Diseases, Disorders and Disabilities 2014 year in review – Ageing 2014 year in review – […]


2014 year in review – statistics, science and why we should not sit down!

Here we highlight some 2014 messages from the Motor Impairment team.  These ones focus on SCIENCE and SCIENTISTS and were reported during the year.  They have some pointers and messages but they also reveal some pitfalls. In the coming days we will post additional highlights from 2014 dealing with other […]


2014 year in review – new physiology: the winning nose, human exercise and more

Here we highlight some 2014 messages from the Motor Impairment team.  They focus on some new physiology reported during the year and hopefully illustrate how the body functions. In the coming days we will post additional highlights from 2014 dealing with other aspects of Motor Impairment and motor performance. MUSCLE […]


2014 year in review – diseases, disorders and disabilities

There have been many important ‘D’iscoveries in 2014 Here we highlight some messages from 2014 from the Motor Impairment team.  They focus on some major diseases, disorders and disabilities.  In the coming days we will post additional highlights from 2014 dealing with other aspects of Motor Impairment and motor performance.  […]