Lewis A. Wheaton, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

School of Applied Physiology
Georgia Institute of Technology
Weber SST; Room 104
Phone: 404-385-2339
email: lewis.wheaton@ap.gatech.edu
Lab: Cognitive Motor Control Lab

Wheaton

Education

  • Doctoral - Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, University of Maryland, College Park, 2005
  • Undergraduate - B.S. in Biology, minor in Chemistry, Radford University 1999

Research Interests

Dr. Wheaton's interests are in the neural control of higher order motor control in the upper and lower extremities. Research underway involves understanding how healthy people plan and execute complex tasks, including walking, kicking a ball, and using tools. As well, we are studying how neural networks change in people with stroke or cortical degeneration successfully plan and execute these tasks through rehabilitation or spontaneous recovery. We utilize electroencephalography (EEG), electromyography (EMG), imaging (fMRI) and behavioral analysis to explore these aspects of motor control.

Classes

  • APPH8803

    • Societies

    • Society for Neuroscience
    • American Clinical Neurophysiology Society
    • International Neuropsychological Society
    • Society for the Neural Control of Movement
    • Movement Disorders Society
    • Cognitive Neuroscience Society

    Ad hoc review

    • Clinical Neurophysiology
    • Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
    • Cortex
    • Experimental Brain Research
    • Neuroscience
    • Journal of Neuroscience Methods

    Select Publications

    Original Articles

    • Nolte, G., Bai, O., Wheaton, L., Mari, Z., Vorbach, S., & Hallett, M. Identifying true brain interaction from EEG data using the imaginary part of coherency. Clin Neurophysiol 2004; 115: 2292-307.
    • Wheaton, L.A., Shibasaki, H, & Hallett, M. Temporal activation of parietal and premotor areas related to praxis hand movements. Clin Neurophysiol 2005; 116: 1201-1212.
    • Wheaton, L.A., Nolte, G., Bohlhalter, S., Fridman, E., & Hallett, M. Synchronization of parietal and premotor areas during the preparation and execution of praxis hand movements. Clin Neurophysiol 2005; 116: 1382-1390.
    • Wheaton, L.A., Yakota, S. & Hallett, M. Posterior parietal negativity proceeding self-paced praxis movements. Exp Brain Res 2005; 163: 535-539.
    • Fridman, E., Immisch, I., Hanakawa, T., Bohlhalter, S., Waldvogel, D., Kansaku, K., Wheaton, L., Wu, T., & Hallett, M. Functional specialization of the dorsal stream for gesture production. NeuroImage 2006; 29: 417-428.
    • Wheaton, L.A., Mizelle, C., Forrester, L., Bai, O., Shibasaki, H. & Macko R.F. How does the brain respond to unimodal and bimodal sensory demand in movement of the lower extremity? Exp Brain Res 2007; 180: 345-354.
    • Wheaton L.A., Carpenter, M., Mizelle, J.C. & Forrester, L. Preparatory band specific premotor cortical activity differentiates upper and lower extremity movement. Exp Brain Res; 2008; 184: 121-126.
    • Wheaton, L.A., Bohlhalter, S., Nolte, G., Shibasaki, H., Hattori, N., Fridman, E., Vorbach, S., Grafman, J. & Hallett, M. Cortico-cortical networks in patients with ideomotor apraxia as revealed by EEG coherence analysis. Neurosci Lett; 2008: 87-92.
    • Wheaton, L.A., Villagra, F., Hanley, D.F., Macko, RF and Forrester L.W. Reliability of TMS motor evoked potentials in quadriceps of subjects with chronic hemiparesis after stroke. J Neurol Sci; 2009; 276: 115-117.
    • Hattori, N., Shibasaki, H., Wheaton, L.A., Wu, T., Matsuhashi, M., & Hallett, M. Discrete parieto-frontal connectivity related to grasping objects. J Neurophysiol; 2009; 101: 1267-82.
    • Wheaton, L.A., Bohlhalter, S, Fridman, E., Vorbach, S., & Hallett, M. Left parietal cortex activation related to planning, executing, and suppressing praxis hand movements. Clin Neurophysiol; 2009; 120: 980–986.

    Review Articles

    • Wheaton, L.A. Parietal Representations for Hand-Object Interactions. J. Neurosci 2007; 27: 969-970.
    • Wheaton, L.A. and Hallett, M. Ideomotor apraxia: a review. J Neurol Sci 2007; 260: 1-10.
    • Buxbaum LJ, Haaland KY, Hallett M, Wheaton L, Heilman KM, Rodriguez A, Gonzales-Rothi L. Treatment of limb apraxia: moving forward to improved action. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2008; 87(2): 149-161.
    • Forrester L.W., Wheaton, L.A., Luft A. Exercise-mediated locomotor recovery and lower extremity neuroplasticity after stroke. J Rehabil Res Dev; 45 (2): 205-220.