The spinal cord is the gateway for information transfer between body and brain but is not simply a conduit. Within its central gray matter lie millions of neurons that integrate and coordinate complex sensory, motor and autonomic events. My broad research interests have been on dysfunction in spinal sensorimotor integration. We have focused on neuromodulation-based plasticity via the biogenic amine modulators serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine. These transmitters have been linked to activation of the spinal cord circuitry generating locomotion, control of autonomic NS function, as well as the potent inhibition of spinal cord pain systems. Dysfunction is spinal dopamine is also implicated in the emergence of Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS). We also work on a barely-studied class of biogenic amines called the ‘trace amines’. They act on recently cloned, apparently intracellularly-retained, metabotropic receptors, and may constitute a novel biochemical form of circuit modulation.

Emerging future research emphases are two-fold; (i) on the importance of sensory afferents in dictating CNS function and dysfunction, and (ii) on a more integrative view on behavior by simultaneously studying, as an orchestrated unit of function, the neuromodulatory control of behavioral drive systems on autonomic, motor and sensory systems.

Current research projects in the lab focus on:
1. Non-classical control of body sensations.
2. Neural encoding of limb movement.
3. An unrecognized family of neuromodulators control locomotion.
4. Deciphering neural circuit dysfunction in Restless Legs Syndrome.
5. Plasticity of spinal cord function after injury: Autonomic dysreflexia.
6. Development of an animal model of 'meditation'.