Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
Dr. Robert Sainburg is a professor of Kinesiology and Neurology at Penn State and director of the Center for Movement Science and Technology (C-MOST) in the Huck Institute of Life Sciences. He manages two laboratories, the Movement Neuroscience laboratory at Penn State in the Department of Kinesiology at University Park, and the Neurorehabilitation Research Laboratory at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, in the Department of Neurology.
His research program is fundamentally translational, focusing on understanding basic neural mechanisms that underlie control, coordination, adaptation and learning of voluntary movements in humans. A major theme of his research has been neural lateralization for motor control. His research in patient populations addresses the functional neuroanatomy underlying lateralized processes of motor control, and the deficits that occur due to neuronal damage to the associated structures.
Dr. Sainburg’s research has led to a model of neural lateralization that attributes different aspects of control to each hemisphere, such that each hemisphere contributes unique control mechanisms to both sides of the body. This bi-hemispheric model of motor control has been able to predict hemisphere-specific deficits in both arms of unilaterally lesioned stroke patients. Most importantly, this work has led to a mechanistic understanding of non-paretic arm (ipsilesional) motor deficits in stroke patients. His current research along with collaborator Carolee Winstein, PT, PhD, at USC is exploring occupational therapy and physical therapy based clinical intervention that uses virtual reality and real-world training to ameliorate these deficits and improve functional independence in stroke patients.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
Neurobiology, Post Doctoral Fellowship, Claude Ghez, Claude Ghez, Columbia University
1993 → 1996
Neurobiology , PhD, Rutgers University
1989 → 1993
Physiology/Neurobiology, MS, Rutgers University
1987 → 1989
Occupational Therapy, BS, New York University
Aug 30 1980 → Aug 30 1984
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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NSF-FR: Bidirectional Neural-Machine Interface for Closed-Loop Control of Prostheses
Sainburg, R. L., Zhang, N., Cheng, H., Hu, X. & Fitzsimons, K.
9/15/23 → 8/31/28
Project: Research project
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Predicting Ipsilesional Motor Deficits in Stroke with Dynamic Dominance Model
Sainburg, R. L. & Winstein, C.
9/1/10 → 5/31/23
Project: Research project
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Interlimb Differences in Motor Control and Learning
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
4/1/01 → 11/30/11
Project: Research project
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LEARNING AND GENERALIZATION OF MULTIJOINT DYNAMICS
Sainburg, R. L. & Sainburg, R. R. L.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
9/10/96 → 8/31/01
Project: Research project
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Adaptive control is reversed between hands after left hemisphere stroke and lost following right hemisphere stroke
Varghese, R., Gordon, J., Sainburg, R. L., Winstein, C. J. & Schweighofer, N., Feb 7 2023, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 120, 6, e2212726120.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Ipsilesional arm training in severe stroke to improve functional independence (IPSI): phase II protocol
For the IPSI Investigative Team, Dec 2022, In: BMC Neurology. 22, 1, 141.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Movement Neuroscience Foundations of Neurorehabilitation
Sainburg, R. L. & Mutha, P. K., Jan 1 2022, Neurorehabilitation Technology, Third Edition. Springer International Publishing, p. 19-39 21 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Neural Control of Stopping and Stabilizing the Arm
Jayasinghe, S. A. L., Scheidt, R. A. & Sainburg, R. L., Feb 21 2022, In: Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience. 16, 835852.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open Access1 Scopus citations -
Reaction time asymmetries provide insight into mechanisms underlying dominant and non-dominant hand selection
Dexheimer, B., Przybyla, A., Murphy, T. E., Akpinar, S. & Sainburg, R., Oct 2022, In: Experimental Brain Research. 240, 10, p. 2791-2802 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Prizes
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Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Distinguished Chair in Kinesiology and Neurology
Sainburg, Robert L. (Recipient), Nov 1 2021
Prize: Other distinction
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Evan G. and Helen G. Pattishall Outstanding Research Achievement Award
Sainburg, Robert L. (Recipient), 2008
Prize