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George Stelmach, Ed.D.
Director, Motor Control Laboratory |
| About: |
George Stelmach is Professor of Kinesiology and Director of the Motor Control Laboratory at Arizona State University. Professor Stelmach's teaching and research interests are in the areas of movement control and learning, aging, human factors, and the neurosciences. His current research examines human movement coordination, and seeks to understand how the central nervous system controls and regulates movement in normal individuals and in those with neurological impairments. Of special interest is how motor control strategies are altered through normal aging and pathology. During the course of his career, Dr.
Stelmach has received numerous academic awards. The following
reflect some of the most prestigious: University of California
President's Fellow, Royalty Fund Fellow, University of Wisconsin,
National Academy of Science Exchange Fellow, Senior Fulbright
Fellow, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst Award, Netherlands
Institute of Advanced Study Fellow, French National Institute of
Medicine Fellow, German Research Council Fellow, Austrian Institute
of Space Neurology Fellow, and the Max Planc Research Fellow. He
also has received several Wellcome Trust Awards to allow him to
conduct research at the University of London, the University of
Oxford, and the Imperial College of Medicine. Recently, he was
appointed to the National Research Councils, Committee on Aging and
Technology. Dr. Stelmach has also been elected to Fellow in the
American Psychological Association, Divisions of Experimental
Psychology and Engineering Psychology, American Psychological
Society, and American Society of Kinesiology. He has also been
honored with invitations to be a visiting scholar at some of the
most renowned Institutes of Neurology in Europe: University of
Dusseldorf, University of Tubingen, University of Innsbruck,
University of London, and the Imperial College of Medicine. |
| Research: |
The major foci of the Motor Control
Laboratory involve determining the computational processes of motor
organization, and the time-varying influence of sensory and visual
stimuli on the control of upper limb movement. Research topics
studied in the laboratory include: multi-joint coordination
mechanisms, visuo-motor adaptation, sensorimotor integration,
handwriting control, reaching and grasping, and force control.
Laboratory researchers examine how the macro and microstructure of
upper-extremity movement is altered by transient or permanent
changes in the human brain due to aging and Parkinson’s disease as
compared to young, healthy adults. The aim is to understand how the
central nervous system controls and regulates movement in healthy
individuals and in those with neurological impairments.
Professor Stelmach has been externally
funded through peer-reviewed grant awards in the neuroscience area
throughout his 38 year career. Consistent with the
interdisciplinary nature of his research, grant support has come
from diverse funding agencies such as the National Institute of
Neurological Diseases and Stroke, National Institute on Aging,
National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of
Education, American Parkinson's Disease Association, Burroughs-Wellcome
Trust, RS Flinn Foundation, and the Air Force Office of Scientific
Research. |
| Selected
Publications: |
1. Rand, M. K., Squire, L. M., & Stelmach, G. E. (2006). Effect of speed manipulation on the control of aperture closure during reach-to-grasp movements. Experimental Brain Research, 174, 74-85.
2. Ketcham, C. J., Dounskaia, N. V., & Stelmach, G.E. (2006). The role of vision in the control of continuous multijoint movements. Journal of Motor Behavior, 38, 29-44.
3. Park, J. H. & Stelmach, G. E. (2006). Effect of combined variation of force amplitude and rate of force development on the modulation characteristics of muscle activation during rapid isometric aiming force production. Experimental Brain Research, 168, 337-347.
4. Rand, M. K., Smiley-Oyen, A. L., Shimansky, Y. P., Bloedel, J. R., & Stelmach, G. E. (2006). The control of aperture closure during the reach-to-grasp movements in parkinson’s disease. Experimental Brain Research, 168, 131-42.
5. Leis, B. C., Rand, M. K., Van Gemmert, A. W. A., Longstaff, M. G., Lou, J. S., & Stelmach, G. E. (2005). The effect of Parkinson's disease on the control of multi-segmental coordination. Experimental Neurology, 194, 393-409.
6. Dounskaia, N., Ketcham, C. J., Leis, B., & Stelmach, G. E. (2005). Disruptions in joint control during drawing arm movements in Parkinson’s disease. Experimental Brain Research, 164, 311-22.
7. Rand, M.K., Stelmach G.E. (2005). Effect of orienting the finger opposition space on the control of reach-to-grasp movements. Journal of Motor Behavior, 37, 65-78.
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