Associate Professor Nick O'Dwyer (School of Excerise and Sport Science)

Australians who suffer a stroke can recover from loss of movement sooner thanks to the research of Associate Professor Nick O'Dwyer and his colleagues, who have made significant advances in the treatment of motor control problems, especially those exacerbated by disruption of the learning mechanism. It is Professor O'Dwyer's distinctly multidisciplinary perspective that has made these advances possible. As the leader of the motor control research group at the School of Exercise and Sport Science, he draws on theory and data from fields as diverse as motor control, speech science, physiology, cognitive psychology, neurology, biomechanics and engineering.

Professor O'Dwyer's enquiries have centred on the biomechanics and control of movement in people with and without neurological disorders. He has developed and tested new forms of therapy for motor dysfunction. His earlier computer modelling of 'tracking' behaviour in humans led to the joint development of a computational model of the brain information processes that underlie voluntary movement, known as Adaptive Model Theory.

The multi-disciplinary nature of Professor O'Dwyer's research is reflected in publications in physiological, neurological and rehabilitation journals, as well as movement science journals. Some of his most important and frequently-cited work has been on the control of muscle stretch reflexes and the reflex disorder of spasticity. Another contribution has been in the study of limb coordination and 'synergies' (coupling or linkages) between joints. Professor O'Dwyer and colleagues have shown that the re-learning of coordination following stroke involves an increase in coupling between joints and a consequent reduction in kinematic degrees of freedom.

Colleagues
Associate Professor O'Dwyer's research is based on longstanding collaborations with the following researchers from the Universities of Sydney and New South Wales:

• Associate Professor Peter Neilson and Dr Megan Neilson
  Neuroengineering Laboratory
  School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications
  University of New South Wales
• Dr Louise Ada and Dr Colleen Canning
  School of Physiotherapy
  University of Sydney
• Dr Ian Cathers
  School of Biomedical Sciences
  University of Sydney
• Associate Professor Richard Smith
  School of Exercise and Sport Science
  University of Sydney