Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Dysfunction of the basal ganglia (BG) is associated with many impairments of movement, yet we still do not fully understand how this set of brain structures specifically contributes to control of limb movements. Researchers tend to isolate arm movements or leg movements as a specific output modality, without recognizing the potential for the different limb systems to be influenced by a common neural mechanism. The purpose of this research is to determine what underlying process the BG may be responsible for, that lead to the motor impairments and symptoms that are observable in diseased states. One potential hypothesis (supported by our previous research) is that this region of the brain may be involved in processing sensory feedback from the limbs in order to formulate a perception of self-motion. The ability to formulate this type of self-based frame of reference may be critical to the quality and accuracy of movement, in addition to how we are able to interact with our environment. The focus of this research program is to isolate sensory sources of feedback during various upper and lower limb tasks and evaluate how this influences movement in healthy participants compared to those whose basal ganglia may be dysfunctional. If the BG are responsible for guiding planned movements through the integration of proprioception with distance or timing relevant cues in our environment, then differences between participants with BG-damage and healthy controls will be identified (as in our preliminary studies). This important concept will enhance our current understanding of brain function and significantly contribute to our identification of an underlying cause of many of the movement impairments observed in basal ganglia-disordered populations.