motor control


Motor Impairment on an international stage

On November 26, some of the finest minds in medical science will meet in Sydney, Australia to discuss the latest  research on motor impairments – the diseases or health conditions that disrupt function of the human motor system (brain, nerves, and muscles) and cause physical disability. The event that will […]


Motor Impairment Blog’s most popular posts

Over the past 4.5 years, researchers from all over the world have written non-technical summaries on their research for the Motor Impairment Blog. Consequently, the Blog contains a rich archive of information on topics such as muscle strength and weakness, falls and balance, sensation, pain, motor control, and research methods. […]


Spinal cord plasticity: getting to the how of the matter

It is well known that the nervous system is capable of change. One way that change occurs is through the strengthening or weakening of connections between nerve cells; a process termed synaptic plasticity. In the laboratory, we can produce synaptic changes using stimulation techniques that activate various parts of the […]


More is better: an improved technique for enhancing plasticity in the human spinal cord

Repetitive pairing of stimuli to the motor cortex and peripheral nerves supplying muscles can induce plasticity at synapses between nerve cells that control voluntary muscle activity. This technique has therapeutic potential for enhancing activity at synapses that lie within the spinal cord  and transmit commands from the brain to the […]


Fighting fire with fire: using vibration to suppress tremor 2

Treatments for tremor disorders have largely focused on the prescription of medications or, in more severe cases, brain surgery (for a review see Schneider & Deuschl 2015). In recent years, there have been some novel – and at times ‘sci-fi’ – approaches to reducing tremor amplitude.  Such approaches include the […]


Neuroimaging the brain areas activated by muscle and cutaneous afferents

Inputs from specialised cutaneous and muscle afferents are crucial for tactile manipulation and accurate movement and postural control.  Both sets of afferents project to the cerebral cortex and contribute to proprioceptive senses (e.g. Proske & Gandevia, 2012).  We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare the cortical activation produced by cutaneous […]