T. Richard Nichols, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
School of Applied Physiology
Email: trn@ap.gatech.edu
Phone: (404) 894-3986 (SST)
Phone: (404) 895-1559 (CRB)
Office: SST 113B/CRB 355
Education
Ph.D., Harvard University, 1974
Research Interests
The work in this laboratory is focused on mechanisms underlying motor coordination in mammalian systems. These mechanisms are to be found in the structure and dynamic properties of the musculoskeletal system as well as in the organization of neuronal circuits in the central nervous system. Our work concerns the interactions between the musculoskeletal system and spinal cord that give rise to normal and abnormal movement and posture, and in the manner in which central pattern-generating networks are modified for specific motor tasks. Our studies have applications in several movement disorders, including spinal cord injury. The experimental approaches span a number of levels, from mechanical studies of isolated muscle cells to kinematic measurements of natural behavior in quadrupeds.
Selected Publications
Gottschall, JS, Nichols TR (in press) Head pitch affects muscle activity in the decerebrate cat hindlimb during walking. (Exp Brain Res)
Maas, H., Prilutsky, B.I., Nichols, T.R. and Gregor, R.J. (in press, Exp Brain Res) Hindlimb kinematics in slope walking following self-reinnervation of medial and lateral gastrocnemius muscles in the cat.
Lay, A.N., Hass, C.J., Nichols, T.R. and Gregor, R.J. (2007). The effects of sloped surfaces on locomotion: An electromyographic analysis. J. Biomechanics 40:1276-1285.
Nichols, T.R. and Cope, T.C. (2004) Cross-bridge mechanisms underlying the history-dependent properties of muscle spindles and stretch reflexes. Can. J. Physiol. & Pharm. 82: 569-576.
Nichols, T.R. (1999) Receptor mechanisms underlying heterogenic reflexes among the triceps surae muscles of the cat. J. Neurophys. 81: 467 - 478.
Nichols, T.R., Cope, T.C. and Abelew, T.A. (1999) Rapid Spinal Mechanisms of Motor Coordination. Exercise and Sport Science. Reviews 27: 255 - 284.
Malamud, J.G., R.E. Godt & T.R. Nichols (1996). Relationship between short-range stiffness and yielding in type-identified, chemically skinned muscle fibers from the cat triceps surae muscles. J. Neurophysiol. 76: 2280-2289.
Nichols, T.R. (1994). A biomechanical perspective on spinal mechanisms of coordinated muscular action: an architecture principle. Acta Anat. 151: 1-13.