Physiology and Pathophysiology of Human Motor Control

Professor John Rothwell

The laboratory specialises in devising new techniques to study the physiology of the human motor system in intact, awake volunteers. Our interest is fuelled by the need to use non-invasive techniques to examine pathological changes in neurological disease, not only for the purposes of identifying pathology but also to chart compensatory changes that occur in parts of the system unaffected by the disease process. The work extends from the study of spinal or brainstem reflex systems to basal ganglia and cerebral cortex.

The work has provided insight into the mechanisms of action of deep brain stimulation for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and dystonia and the disorganisation of cortical and brainstem circuitry in different forms of myoclonus. In addition the lab has a long experience in the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and has pioneered its use to study cortical connectivity, as a virtual lesion technique and as a method for provoking long-term changes in the excitability of cortical synapses. We have also devised new methods for repetitive TMS that lead to effects on brain function that outlast the period of stimulation. This gives insight into how the remainder of the brain reacts to changes in function of another part, as well as to possibilities for therapeutic applications in rehabilitation of brain injury or chronic disease
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Current Projects

• TMS Investigations of connectivity and plasticity of motor, premotor and parietal cortex
• TMS and fMRI/PET
• Compensation and normalisation in basal ganglia surgery
• Investigations of motor learning
• Time and Movement

Current Collaborators
Angelo Quartarone (Messina), Jens Nielsen (Copenhagen), Vahe Amassian (New York), Yoshikazu Ugawa (Tokyo), Alfredo Berardelli (Rome), Josep Valls-Sole (Barcelona), Vicenzo Di Lazarro (Rome), Daniel Corcos (Chicago), Colum MacKinnon (Chicago), Charles Capaday (Montreal), Hartwig Siebner (Kiel), Alexander Munchau (Hamburg), Ying-Zu Huang (Taipei). Stephan Swinnen (Leuven), Marina de Koning-Tjissen (Amsterdam), Franca Deriu (Sassari)

Current Grant Support
MRC Programme and Project Grants, Part of MRC Co-operative Group "Neural Control of Movement", Wellcome Trust, Action Medical Research, Wellington Hospital London, National Institutes of Health, Action Research and The Royal Society. The Stroke Association

Present Lab members:
Sven Bestmann, Penny Talelli, Karin Rosenkranz, Binith Cheeran, James Teo, Diane Ruge, Orlando Swayne, Rupert Oliver, Takayuki Katayama, Atsuo Nuruki, Francesco Mori, Carmen Terranova, Amanda Wallace

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