School of Kinesiology Seminar Series: What startles tell about motor control in health and disease

Event Details

Speaker: Dr. Vivian Weerdesteyn, Associate Professor, Donders Institute for Brain Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University

Host: Dr. Mark Carpenter, Professor, UBC School of Kinesiology

Title: “What ‘startles’ tell about motor control in health and disease”

When we make a voluntary movement to an external cue, such as lifting our foot from the brake when the traffic light turns green, it typically takes us (at least) 200 ms to react. Yet, when the cue is paired with a startling acoustic stimulus, the motor response can be initiated at much shorter latencies (below 100 ms). This early release, and sometimes also augmentation, of motor responses is called StartReact. It was first demonstrated for voluntary single-joint movements, and later studies confirmed that this effect also pertains to more automated whole-body responses, such as postural responses, stepping and avoiding sudden obstacles. StartReact latencies appear too short to allow cortical processing, which has led to the hypothesis that a prepared movement is released at the brainstem level, with the motor command being conveyed to the spinal motorneurons through the reticulospinal tract. In her talk, Dr. Vivian Weerdesteyn will 1) present work in patients with corticospinal lesions that supports the involvement of the reticulospinal system in StartReact, 2) discuss how conflicting findings in choice reaction tasks may be understood within this framework, and 3) discuss implications of StartReact results for motor control in health and disease.

*Following the Seminar presentation, students (and interested others) are invited to stay for a 20-30 min discussion on broader themes related to the talk and of interest to graduate students. This will be led by the KIN student reps and graduate co-directors.

*Light Lunch will be provided from 11:45 pm to 12:30 pm

This lecture will be recorded for podcasting.

Seminar Poster

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