Basal ganglia and cortex in health and disease.

Research in my lab focuses on three primary questions:
1. What does the basal ganglia contribute to the control of movement and executive function in healthy individuals?
2. What physiologic processes underlie the signs of basal ganglia-related disorders such as Parkinson's disease and dystonia?
3. How does deep brain stimulation (DBS) work to alleviate symptoms in Parkinson's disease, dystonia, OCD/Tourette's, and an expanding array of other clinical applications?

Sample Publications:

Coexisting adult polyglucosan body disease with frontotemporal lobar degeneration with transactivation response DNA-binding protein-43 (TDP-43)-positive neuronal inclusions.
Farmer JG, Crain BJ, Harris BT, Turner RS.
Neurocase. 2012 Apr 16.

Testing the contributions of striatal dopamine loss to the genesis of parkinsonian signs.
Franco V, Turner RS.
Neurobiol Dis. 2012 Jul;47(1):114-25.

Primary Motor Cortex of the Parkinsonian Monkey: Differential Effects on the Spontaneous Activity of Pyramidal Tract-Type Neurons.
Pasquereau B, Turner RS.
Cereb Cortex. 2011 Jun;21(6):1362-78.

Bursts and oscillations as independent properties of neural activity in the parkinsonian globus pallidus internus.
Chan V, Starr PA, Turner RS.
Neurobiol Dis. 2011 Jan;41(1):2-10.

Motor sequences and the basal ganglia: kinematics, not habits.
Desmurget M, Turner RS.
J Neurosci. 2010 Jun 2;30(22):7685-90.

Deep brain stimulation of the globus pallidus internus in the parkinsonian primate: local entrainment and suppression of low-frequency oscillations.
McCairn KW, Turner RS.
J Neurophysiol. 2009 Apr;101(4):1941-60.

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