The Barrow Neurological Institute BNI Div of Neurobiology. Arizona State University Dept of Biology Dept of Exercise Science Dept of Chemical, Bio and Mechanical Science Admission to the Program and Supervision of Trainees Training Faculty . Neural Control of Skeletal Muscle Experimental and modeling approaches are used in Dr. Fuglevand's laboratory to examine how peripheral and spinal elements of the mammalian neuromuscular system are organized for the control of muscle force.
Current work focuses on neural and muscular mechanisms of fatigue.
Experimentals involve electrophysiological studies in human subjects including the recording and stimulation of single sensory or motor axons using microneurography techniques. With this methodology, it is possible to monitor the neural codes projecting to and from the spinal cord in awake subjects during the performance of volitional motor tasks. Computer models incorporate experimental findings to explore how the ensemble behavior of populations of neurons may give rise to coordinated motor responses. Future work will evaluate functional connectivity between various sensory inputs and motoneurons in awake human subjects. Much of the previous work in this area was carried out in reduced preparations in which the revealed patterns of connectivity may have been markedly different from those that which exist in an intact system.