Research

Research

The purpose of my research is to develop fundamental understanding of the cortical control of the human hand and upper limb. My research program is focused on the somatosensory contributions to motor control; human hand control is profoundly dependent on the integrity of somatosensory input that arises from touch and muscle receptors. Multiple cortical areas receive and process somatosensory input yet little is known about the role of these areas in the control of human hand movement. My research program is primarily focused on investigating the role of somatosensory loci in the control of hand movement in healthy and clinical populations. Students in my lab use a combination of neurophysiology techniques including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Publications

Publications

*indicate undergraduate or graduate students in my lab

*Jacobs M, *Premji A, Nelson AJ. Plasticity-inducing TMS protocols to investigate somatosensory control of hand function. Neural Plasticity (2012):350574.

Nelson AJ, *Premji A, *Rai N, Hoque T, Tommerdahl M, Chen R. Dopamine alters tactile perception in Parkinson's disease. Can J Neurol Sci (2012), 39(1):52-7.

*Rai N, *Premji A, Tommerdahl M, Nelson AJ. Continuous theta-burst rTMS over primary somatosensory cortex modulates tactile perception on the hand. Clinical Neurophysiology (2012) 123(6):1226-33.

*Premji A, *Zapallow C, *Tsang P, *Tang R, *Jacobs M, Nelson AJ. Influence of area 5 on interhemispheric inhibition. Neuroreport (2011) Dec 21;22(18):974-8.

*Premji A, *Rai N, Nelson A. Area 5 influences excitability within the primary motor cortex in humans. PLoS One (2011);6(5):e20023.

Ni Z, Charab S, Gunraj C, Nelson AJ, Udupa K, Yeh IJ, Chen R. Transcranial magnetic stimulation in different current directions activates separate cortical circuits. Journal of Neurophysiology, (2011) 105(2):749-56.

*Premji A, *Ziluk A, Nelson AJ. Bilateral somatosensory evoked potentials following intermittent theta-burst repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. BMC Neuroscience, (2010) 11:91.

*Ziluk A, *Premji A, Nelson AJ. Functional connectivity from area 5 to primary motor cortex via paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation. Neuroscience Letters (2010) 484(1):81-85.

Nelson AJ, Hoque T, Gunraj CA, Ni Z, Chen R. Impaired Interhemispheric Inhibition in Writer’s Cramp. Neurology (2010) 75(5):441-447.

Nelson AJ, Blake D, Chen R. Digit-specific aberrations in the somatosensory cortex in Writer’s Cramp. Annals of Neurology, (2009) 66(2):146-54.

Nelson AJ, Hoque T, Gunraj C, Ni Z, Chen R. Bi-directional interhemispheric inhibition during unimanual sustained contractions. BMC Neuroscience (2009) 10:31.

Ni Z, Gunraj C, Nelson AJ, Yeh I, Castillo G, Hoque T, Chen R. Two phases of interhemispheric inhibition between motor related cortical areas and the primary motor cortex in human. Cerebral Cortex, (2009) 19(7):1654-65.

Nelson AJ, Chen R. Digit somatotopy within cortical areas of the postcentral gyrus in humans. Cerebral Cortex (2008) 18:2341-51.

Chen Y, Wang FN, Nelson AJ, Xu H, Kim Y, Rosen BR, Kwong KK . Electrical stimulation modulates the amphetamine-induced hemodynamic changes: an fMRI study to compare the effect of stimulating locations and frequencies on rats. Neuroscience Letters (2008) 444:117-21.

Education

Education

Education information

Grad Students

Grad Students

Grad Students information

Teaching

Teaching

Teaching information

Undergraduate