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Research in the Neuromotor Behavior Laboratory focuses on motor control and skill learning. We study the neural and behavioral processes underlying skill acquisition. Our emphasis is on determining changes in brain structure-function relationships that occur with performance change caused by learning, external environmental changes, or internal system changes such as aging and disease. Research techniques include the use of functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (conducted at the Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, North Campus) and quantitative motor assessments such as kinematic, kinetic, and electromyographic analyses. For various research projects, we test normal healthy subjects, aged individuals, and patients with Parkinson’s disease. |
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The goals of Dr. Seidler's research are to understand how motor
performance becomes more efficient and skilled as a function
of practice. Investigations include work with motor-learning
deficient populations such as elderly adults and Parkinson's
disease patients. Functional imaging is utilized to examine
the neural networks contributing to skill performance both in
the early and late stages of learning. |
| Age-Related
Declines in Bimanual Coordination |
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Current
work is funded by the Claude Pepper Older Americans Independence
Center. The Pilot Grant is examining age-related declines in
bimanual coordination. We are using behavioral studies, and
functional and structural brain imaging techniques to determine
the neural mechanisms of these declines and the potential for
compensation (collaborators Reuter-Lorenz, Noll, and Welsh). |
| Neural
and Neurovascular Changes in Simulated Microgravity |
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Current
work, funded by a NASA Bioengineering Institute Award (involving
over 40 UM faculty), is examining changes in neural or neurovascular
performance that result from simulated microgravity at two extremes
-- the systems level and the cellular level (collaborators Takayama,
Noll). |
| Aging
& Sensorimotor Plasticity |
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Current
work, funded by The National Institute of Aging, examines
how subjects are able to transfer prior learning experience
to the acquisition of new motor skills. When transfer is to
a new skill that is of the same class as those recently experienced,
transfer seems to occur through elaboration of previous learning.
The savings seen when transfer is to a new skill that is independent
of those recently experienced seems to occur due to heightened
plasticity in the sensorimotor system. We are currently determining
the behavioral limits of these paradigms in young adults,
and we are testing whether elderly adults can take advantage
of this savings to overcome age-related reductions in skill
learning capacity.
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| The
Neural Substrates of Motor Skill Learning |
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Ongoing
research is also aimed at determining the neural substrates
supporting motor skill acquisition. We are particularly interested
in how elaboration of previous learning is used to enhance new
skill learning. These investigations consist of motor learning
sessions within the FMRI scanner to determine which brain regions
contribute to skill learning, and how their contributions vary
over time. |
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Jet Set. Dr.
Seidler (2nd from left) and colleagues at Ellington
Field, Houston, TX. Behind her is a T-38 jet used by astronauts
for training, to keep their pilot's licenses current,
and to be exposed to varying forces by diving, twisting,
and other maneuvers. She participated in the NASA / ASEE
Summer Faculty Fellowship Program last summer. |
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| Faculty: |
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| Back
Row: Ashley Bangert (Psychology PhD student),
Anna Boonin (former research assistant), Joaquin Anguera
(Kinesiology PhD student), Dr. Seidler. Front
Row: Dann Goble (Kinesiology PhD student), Prudhvi
Chintalapati (Mechanical Engineering PhD student), Christine
Walsh (Neuroscience PhD student), Kari Gustafson (Kinesiology
undergraduate student), Kim Keen (Kinesiology undergraduate
student). |
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Rachael
Seidler, Ph.D. (rseidler@umich.edu),
Director |
| Ph.D.
Students: |
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Joaquin
Anguera (janguera@umich.edu),
Kinesiology |
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Ashley
Bangert (abangert@umich.edu),
Psychology |
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Christine
Walsh (cmwalsh@umich.edu),
Neuroscience |
| Undergraduate
Students: |
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Cori
Chase (coric@umich.edu),
Movement Science |
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Kari
Gustafson (karianne@umich.edu),
Movement Science |
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Kim Keen (keenk@umich.edu), Movement Science |
| Dhara Naik (dnaik@umich.edu), Psychology |
| Lisa Oates-Ulrich (lisaco@umich.edu) Movement Science |
| Katharine Patterson (klpatter@umich.edu) Psychology |
| Neil Pithadia (ndpithad@umich.edu) MCDB |
| Colleen Russell (carz@umich.edu) Psychology |
| Erin Smith (Psychology) |
| Collaborators: |
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Jacob
Bloomberg, Ph.D. (jacob.j.bloomberg1@jsc.nasa.gov),
NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX |
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William Gehring, Ph.D. (wgehring@umich.edu), UM Psychology |
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Douglas
Noll, Ph.D. (dnoll@umich.edu),
UM Biomedical Engineering |
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Patricia
Reuter-Lorenz, Ph.D. (parl@umich.edu),
UM Psychology |
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Robert
Welsh, Ph.D. (rcwelsh@umich.edu),
UM Radiology and UM Physics |
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Daniel Willingham, Ph.D. (Willingham@virginia.edu), University of Virginia Department of Psychology |
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