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PERFORM Colloquium: Neuroplasticity, Motor Learning and Aerobic Exercise: Implications to Motor Rehabilitation

2020-11-03

For those of you who were unable to join the webinar live, the stream is now available for everyone to watch here or on YouTube.

Here, I will present my recent work on the neurophysiological mechanisms impacted by motor learning, aerobic exercise and repetitive brain stimulation. Particularly, the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation to measure and modulate cortical excitability and connectivity between brain regions will be highlighted. My findings will include healthy individuals as well as people with stroke and those with Parkinson’s disease.

Finally, I will discuss the implications of my findings to promote positive neuroplasticity, improve rehabilitation of upper-limb function after stroke and maintain motor function in people with Parkinson’s disease.

The 1-hour seminar will be followed by a 30-minute roundtable discussion.

Speaker Bio:

Jason Neva is an Assistant Professor at the School of Kinesiology and Physical Activity Sciences at the Université de Montréal and a Researcher at the research center of the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal (CRIUGM).

He completed his BSc and MSc at York University in Kinesiology & Health Science focusing on behavioural aspects of motor learning. He went on to complete his PhD at the University of Waterloo in Kinesiology concentrating on neuroplasticity mechanisms relating to motor training and aerobic exercise. Finally, he completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the University of British Columbia in the Department of Physical Therapy where he focused on neurorehabilitation in clinical populations (e.g., stroke, Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis).

His research program is divided into three axes that span basic to applied sciences: (1) Understanding the brain mechanisms that support motor learning; (2) Understanding the impact of interventions (e.g., acute exercise, transcranial magnetic stimulation) on neuroplasticity mechanisms and motor learning; and (3) the development of effective interventions to improve motor function in individuals with stroke and in people with neurodegenerative conditions.

 

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