Neuromuscular Physiology Laboratory

Suite 1435 at 555 14th St, NW
Phone:404-894-9985, Fax:404-894-7593

Lab News

  • Grant awarded from Emory Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and Atlanta Clinical & Translational Science Institute (March, 2012)
  • Ashley N. Johnson, a PhD Student (GT Electrical Computer Engineering), successfully passes her PhD deffense entitled "A Statistical Framework for the Analysis of the Neural Control of Movement with Aging and other Clinical Applications". (March, 2012)
  • Collaborative work with Drs. Ueda and Kurita is featured in online news including Engadget. (August, 2011)
  • Akibi A. Archer, a PhD Student (GT Mechanical Engineering) collaborating with our lab is awarded 1) Most Innovative Student Abstract Award from the Noninvasive Investigation of the Neuromuscular System Interest Group and 2) Student Travel Award from the Biomechanics Interest Group on "Muscle Stiffness Quantification With Novel Ultrasound Elastography Imaging During Fatiguing Contraction" at the American College of Sports Medicine. (June, 2011)

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Research Interests

Human movement is dependent on the neural strategy in activating skeletal muscles that have variable mechanical properties. Neuromuscular Physiology Lab identifies the neural and mechanical mechanisms underlying motor skills and motor learning. For this purpose, we look at neural signals and motor output (e.g., fluctuations in neural excitation, muscle activity, muscle force, and movement) in young and old individuals in various conditions.

Featured in GT Alumni Magazine

Personnel

  • Director: Minoru "Shino" Shinohara, PhD
  • PhD Students: Ellenor Brown, MS; Vasiliy Buharin, BS; Ashley Johnson, MS; Dylan Lee, BS
  • Masters Student: Kaitlin Cash, BS; Chas Hoppe, BS
  • Collaborators:
    • Deborah Backus, PhD, Shepherd Research Institute: Spinal Cord Injury
    • Andrew Butler, PhD, Atlanta VA Medical Center: Brain Activity (TMS)
    • Audrey Duarte, PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology: Memory
    • Maysam Ghovanloo, PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology: Tongue Drive System
    • Ryota Ishibashi, PhD, Tokyo Metropolitan University: Posture
    • Motoki Kouzaki, PhD, Kyoto University, Japan
    • Shigehiko Ogoh, PhD, Toyo University, Japan
    • Karim Sabra, PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology: Mechanomyogram
    • Lena Ting, PhD, Emory/Georgia Tech: Posture
    • Jun Ueda, PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology: Robotics (Exoskeleton)
    • Lewis Wheaton, PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology: Brain activity (EEG)
    • Yasuhide Yoshitake, PhD, National Institute of Fitness and Sports, Japan: Ultrasound Elastography

Featured in Senior News

Research Opportunities

We welcome undergraduate/graduate students and research scholars in Neuromuscular Physiology Lab. The participation can be short, long, internship, or sabbatical stay. Research activity may include development of experimental apparatus and software (Labview or Matlab), data collection & analysis (Matlab, Labview, or SPIKE2), conference presentation, and manuscript writing. Graduate students and research scholars from other institutions/countries are also welcome. Dr. Shinohara is a program faculty for Bioengineering and IGERT (Hybrid Neural Microsystems) at Georgia Tech. Undergraduate students at Georgia Tech can apply for President’s Undergraduate Research Awards for funding (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program).

Current Research Projects

Neuromechanical Mechanisms of Motor Skills

  • Sympathetic nerve activity and neuromuscular functions
  • Muscle mechanical characteristics with ultrafast ultrasound (elastography)
  • Muscle mechanical characteristics with muscle vibration (mechanomyogram)
  • Sensory enhancement and hand motor performance
  • Attention and neuromotor oscillations
  • Control of tongue drive system and hand

Neuromuscular Plasticity with Practice, Aging or Injury

  • Facilitation of motor learning
  • Neuromotor oscillations in elderly and stroke
  • Exercise and neuromotor oscillations
  • Exercise and memory in elderly adults
  • Noise and postural control in elderly adults
  • Noise and postural control in amputees
  • Autonomic control in spinal cord injury
  • Muscle stiffness and injury

Neuromuscular Mechanisms of Muscle Fatigue

  • Muscle stiffness and muscle fatigue

Funding

  • 2012-2013, Emory Alzheimer's Disease Research Center/ Atlanta Clinical & Translational Science Institute
  • 2010-2012, US Department of Veterans Affairs
  • 2010-2012, US National Science Foundation and Japan Science and Technology Agency International Collaboration
  • 2008-2013, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research

Recent Publications

  • Johnson AN, Shinohara M. Corticomuscular coherence with and without additional task in the elderly. Journal of Applied Physiology, in press.
  • Johnson AN, Huo X, Ghovanloo M, Shinohara M. Dual-task motor performance with a tongue-operated assistive technology compared with hand operations. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation 9:1, 2012.
  • Archer A, Atangcho P, Sabra KG, Shinohara M. Propagation direction of natural mechanical oscillations in the biceps brachii muscle during voluntary contraction. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology 22: 51-59, 2012
  • Shinohara M. Adaptations in motor unit behavior in elderly adults. Current Aging Science 4: 200-208, 2011
  • Johnson AN, Wheaton LA, Shinohara M. Attenuation of corticomuscular coherence with additional motor or non-motor task. Clinical Neurophysiology 122:356-363, 2011
  • Shinohara M, Sabra K, Gennisson J-L, Fink M, Tanter M. Real-time visualization of muscle stiffness distribution with ultrasound shear wave imaging during muscle contraction. Muscle & Nerve 42: 438-441, 2010.
  • Ueda J, Ming D, Krishnamoorthy V, Shinohara M, Ogasawara T. Individual muscle control using an exoskeleton robot for muscle function testing. IEEE Transactions on Neural and Rehabilitation Systems Engineering 18: 339-350, 2010.
  • Kouzaki M, Shinohara M. Steadiness in plantar flexor muscles and its relation to postural sway in young and elderly adults. Muscle & Nerve 42:78-87, 2010.
  • Yoshitake Y, Shinohara M. Etiology of mechanomyogram and its applications to motor control. System, Control, and Information, 54:327-332, 2010.
  • Kamibayashi K, Nakazawa K, Ogata H, Obata H, Akai M, Shinohara M. Invariable H-reflex and sustained facilitation of stretch reflex with heightened sympathetic outflow. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology 19:1053-1060, 2009.
  • Aoki T, Shinohara M, Kinoshita H. Motor control of individual fingers. In: Shinohara M Ed, Advances in neuromuscular physiology of motor skills and muscle fatigue. Research Signpost, 1-24, 2009.
  • Kouzaki M, Shinohara M. Alternation in muscle activity to reduce muscle fatigue. In: Shinohara M Ed, Advances in neuromuscular physiology of motor skills and muscle fatigue. Research Signpost, 351-367, 2009
  • Yoshitake Y, Shinohara M. Steady force control in multiple muscle systems. In: Shinohara M Ed, Advances in neuromuscular physiology of motor skills and muscle fatigue. Research Signpost, 127-138, 2009.
  • Shinohara M. Muscle activation strategies in multiple muscle systems. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 41:181-183, 2009.
  • Shinohara M, Yoshitake Y, Kouzaki M. Alterations in synergistic muscle activation impact fluctuations in net force. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 41:191-197, 2009.

Recent Abstracts

  • Shinohara M, Archer A, Sabra K (2011). Muscle stiffness quantification with novel ultrasound elastography imaging for detecting muscle injury after eccentric contractions. The 58th Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine.
  • Archer A, Sabra K, Shinohara M (2011). Muscle stiffness quantification with novel ultrasound elastography imaging during fatiguing contraction. The 58th Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine.
  • Kurita Y, Shinohara M, Ueda J (2011). Wearable sensorimotor enhancer for a fingertip based on stochastic resonance. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation 2011.
  • Shinohara M, Vohra S, Buharin VE (2010). Effects of physiologically heightened sympathetic nerve activity on stretch and H-reflexes in a contracting hand muscle. The 39th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
  • Johnson AN, Shinohara M (2010). Beta band corticomuscular coherence with an additional motor or non-motor task in healthy elderly adults. The 39th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
  • Buharin VE, Rajendra J, Butler AJ, Shinohara M (2010). Effects of physiologically heightened sympathetic nerve activity on motor cortex excitability. The 39th Annual Meeting of Society for Neuroscience.
  • Johnson AN, Vachtsevanos G, Shinohara M (2010). Feature Subset Selection for Age-Related Changes in EEG and EMG during Motor Tasks. The 32nd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.
  • Johnson AN, Huo X, Cheng CW, Ghovanloo M, Shinohara M (2010). Effects of additional load on hand and tongue performance. The 32nd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.
  • Yoshitake Y, Shinohara M (2010). Surface EMG contains information on small force fluctuations during force-varying contraction. The XVIII Congress of the International Society of Electrophysiology and Kinesiology.
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