About the Human Neurophysiology Laboratory

The laboratory is on the fourth floor (4-219) of the Van Vliet Complex in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

(Mouse over the components to see the name)

Major Equipment:

  • 16 amplifiers for bioelectric signals to record muscle and brain activity (Digitimer Neurolog System with four channels, four Grass P511 AC amplifiers and one Bortec AMT-8 "Octopus")
  • Grass S-88 stimulator with constant current and stimulus isolation units (to stimulate nerve and muscle)
  • Digitimer DS7A and DS7AH High Voltage Constant Current Stimulator (to stimulate nerve and muscle with higher voltages)
  • Bicycle ergometer and custom made arm cycle ergometer (to study rhythmic movements of the legs and arms)
  • Concept 2 Model D Rower (to study coordinated movements of the legs and arms)
  • Magventure MagPro R30 transcranial magnetic stimulator (with MagOption)
  • Spirit Treadmill (to study human walking)
  • Biodex System III (to study isolated contractions of different muscle groups)
  • Penny and Giles goiniometer system (to record movements about different joints)
  • Brainsight TMS guidance system (for image guided TMS)
  • Lumex (GF Health Products Inc.) Hydraulic Patient Lift (to transfer participants between wheelchair and Biodex)
  • Custom written data collection (Labview) and analysis (Matlab) packages
  • CED Spike2 (for spike detection and sorting in motor unit analysis).

Techniques:

  • EMG recording using surface and intramuscular electrodes (recording the activity of human muscle)
  • Human reflex studies including H-reflexes, stretch reflexes, tendon-tap and cutaneous reflexes
  • Muscle stimulation for functional electrical stimulation (to improve techniques for restoring movement for persons with stroke or spinal cord injury)
  • Somatosensory evoked potentials (recording brain activity in response to stimulation of sensory receptors in the arms and legs)
  • Motor evoked potentials using transcranial magnetic stimulation (recording responses in arm and leg muscles from stimulation of the brain)
  • Psychophysical studies (to identify mechanisms involved in the perception of human movement; kinesthesia/proprioception)

Neuro Art:

Dr. Aung presented the lab with his painting (left) of Ramón y Cajal's original sketch (right) of the nervous system. Click on the picture to see a larger version.