Fine motor control of the body results from a subtle yet complex integration of the motor and sensory systems. My work in human neurophysiology encompasses the control of movement and sensation, and how that control changes in able-bodied people and with healthy aging, stroke and spinal cord injury.
The major focus of my group is the neurophysiology of rehabilitation: why does rehabilitation work? where does rehabilitation work, at which specific sites in the body? how can we make rehabilitation work better for all patients regardless of the severity of their disability?
Our studies in older people investigate not only how physiology changes as we age, but it will also establish age-appropriate targets for movement rehabilitation after stroke, where few currently exist. My detailed approach employs a combination of techniques that will enable us to identify the potential for recovery in pathological conditions and suggest how we might further modify the novel rehabilitation strategies being developed in my group.
Such new approaches will provide individually tailored rehabilitation programs to maximise the restoration of functional movement after stroke and spinal cord injury.
Penelope McNulty (PhD) graduated from UNSW in 2001. After working at the University of Rochester, NY, USA on a Schmitt Fellowship she moved to the Sydney University during the first years of a NHMRC post-doctoral fellowship, before returning to NeuRA in 2007.
She studies human neurophysiology of the sensory and motor systems in healthy subjects and those with stroke and spinal cord injury including recording from single sensory receptors and stimulating single motor units.
Current studies include investigations of a novel rehabilitation tool after stroke using Wii therapy, and how this changes the way the brain controls force during voluntary movement after stroke and with healthy aging.
Age related sensorimotor changes in the handSkin sensation, or the ability to detect contact on the skin, declines with age. |
Changes in motor control after spinal cord injuryThere are 350-400 new cases of spinal cord injury in Australia every year. These injuries cause sudden and devastating changes in patients’ ability to live independently. |
Changes in motor control after strokeVery little is known about the way in which the body controls voluntary movement changes after stroke, or which neurophysiological structures cause such changes. Our series of studies will investi
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Changes in muscle drive as a function of ageMeasuring how well people can drive their muscle to produce maximum forces tells us a lot about the voluntary control of movement. |
Changes in the ability of the brain to drive upper limb muscles after spinal cord injuryWe are developing a tool that will allow us to identify the potential for the recovery of voluntary movement control after spinal cord injury. The difference between stimuli delivered to the muscl
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Changes in the properties of single receptors in the skin of the hand with healthy agingWe know that the ability to detect contact with the skin changes with age. |
Improving rehabilitation after strokeEvery year more than 60,000 Australians suffer a stroke and this number will only increase with the aging population the growing epidemics of obesity, physical inactivity and diabetes. Because the
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Peripheral fatigue in motor control of human hand musclesFatigue is commonly experienced not only by those with a disease or injury, but also by healthy people in everyday life. |
The length-tension relationship of single motor units in muscles acting on the handThe ability of a muscle to produce force depends on many factors including the length of the muscle. |
The physiology of improved functional movement with Wii therapySuccessful rehabilitation after stroke is limited by many factors including trained personnel, equipment, time and money. One of the biggest impediments in rehabilitation is patient compliance and
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