[Seminar] The functional organization and plasticity of rodent motor cortex by Dr. Gordon Teskey

Abstract

The functional organization and plasticity of the rodent motor cortex has been extensively studied using intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) techniques. Cortical movement representations (motor maps) in rodents have been well characterized before and after experimental manipulations that alter the balance of cortical excitability, and after cortical injury as well as skilled motor learning. In this seminar, I discuss what motor maps are and how altering the duration of stimulation trains can reveal alternative perspectives about the organization and plasticity of the motor cortex.

Biography

Professor Teskey received his Ph.D. from Western University in 1990 and then conducted postdoctoral work at McMaster University. He relocated to the University of Calgary in 1992, where he is a professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy and the Hotchkiss Brain Institute.  Teskey has won numerous teaching awards, developed new courses and co-created the Bachelors of Science in Neuroscience program at his home University. He recently published his second book, An Introduction to Brain and Behavior 6th Ed, with colleagues Bryan Kolb and Ian Whishaw. His Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council-funded research program examines the neurobiology of motor maps. His Canadian Institutes of Health-funded research program examines how seizures alter brain function. He leads the Epilepsy Brain and Mental Health Team at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute and is working towards a clinical trial to prevent postictal hypoperfusion and behavioural dysfunction in persons with epilepsy.