Basal ganglia and cortex in health and disease.

Research in my lab focuses on three primary questions:

1) What do the basal ganglia contribute to the control of movement and executive function in healthy individuals?

2) What pathophysiologic 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 essential tremor, Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, OCD/Tourette's, and an expanding array of other potential applications?

Selected Publications

Turner RS, DeLong MR. Corticostriatal activity in primary motor cortex of the macaque. J Neurosci. 2000; 20:7096-108.

Turner RS, Grafton ST, McIntosh AR, DeLong MR, Hoffman JM. The functional anatomy of parkinsonian bradykinesia. NeuroImage. 2003; 19:163-79.

Turner RS, Desmurget M, Grethe J, Crutcher MD, Grafton ST. Motor subcircuits mediating the control of movement extent and speed. J Neurophysiol. 2003; 90:3958-66.

Starr PA, Marks WJ, Mori M, Rau G, Simmons D, Lindsey N, Turner RS. Spontaneous pallidal neuronal activity in human dystonia: Comparison with Parkinson’s disease and normal macaque. J Neurophysiol. 2005; 93:3165-76.

Turner RS, Anderson ME. Context-dependent modulation of movement-related discharge in the primate globus pallidus. J Neurosci. 2005; 25:2965-76.

Wu AK, McCairn K, Zada G, Wu T, Turner RS. Motor cortex stimulation: Transient benefit in a primate model of Parkinson’s Disease. J Neurosurg. 2007; in press.

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