Robert Sainburg

Director of the Center for Movement Science and Technology; Huck Distinguished Chair in Kinesiology and Neurology; Professor of Kinesiology and of Neurology

Robert Sainburg

Research Summary

The neural mechanisms that underlie control, coordination, and learning of voluntary movements in humans. Functional neuroanatomy of lateralized processes of motor control. Neurorehabilitation and Functional Recovery in stroke patients.

Huck Affiliations

Links

Most Recent Publications

Lateralization of acquisition and consolidation in direction but not amplitude of a motor skill task

Jisung Yuk, Robert L. Sainburg, 2024, Experimental Brain Research on p. 2341-2356

Symmetry and synchrony of bimanual movements are not predicated on interlimb control coupling

Jisung Yuk, Nick M. Kitchen, Andrzej Przybyla, Robert A. Scheidt, Robert L. Sainburg, 2024, Journal of Neurophysiology on p. 982-996

Brooke Dexheimer, Robert Sainburg, Sydney Sharp, Benjamin A. Philip, 2024, American Journal of Occupational Therapy

Role of proprioception in corrective visually-guided movements: larger movement errors in both arms of a deafferented individual compared to control participants

Shanie A.L. Jayasinghe, Robert L. Sainburg, Fabrice R. Sarlegna, 2024, Experimental Brain Research

Nick M. Kitchen, Brooke Dexheimer, Jisung Yuk, Candice Maenza, Paul R. Ruelos, Taewon Kim, Robert L. Sainburg, 2024, Journal of Physiology

Jisung Yuk, Andrzej Przybyla, Robert A Scheidt, Robert L Sainburg, 2023, Journal of Neurophysiology on p. 497-515

Rini Varghese, James Gordon, Robert L. Sainburg, Carolee J. Winstein, Nicolas Schweighofer, 2023, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Candice Maenza, Robert L. Sainburg, Rini Varghese, Brooke Dexheimer, Marika Demers, Lauri Bishop, Shanie A.L. Jayasinghe, David A. Wagstaff, Carolee Winstein, 2022, BMC Neurology

Brooke Dexheimer, Andrzej Przybyla, Terrence E. Murphy, Selcuk Akpinar, Robert Sainburg, 2022, Experimental Brain Research on p. 2791-2802

Shanie A.L. Jayasinghe, Robert A. Scheidt, Robert L. Sainburg, 2022, Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience

Most-Cited Papers

Elizabeth J. Woytowicz, Kelly P. Westlake, Jill Whitall, Robert L. Sainburg, 2018, Journal of Neurophysiology on p. 729-740

H. J. Jo, C. Maenza, David Good, Xuemei Huang, J. Park, Robert L. Sainburg, Mark Latash, 2016, Neuroscience on p. 194-205

Candice Maenza, David C. Good, Carolee J. Winstein, David A. Wagstaff, Robert L. Sainburg, 2020, Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair on p. 39-50

Jacob E. Schaffer, Robert L. Sainburg, 2017, Neuroscience on p. 54-64

Robert L. Sainburg, Sydney Y. Schaefer, Vivek Yadav, 2016, Neuroscience on p. 26-38

Robert L. Sainburg, Candice Maenza, Carolee Winstein, David Good, 2016, on p. 257-272

Selcuk Akpinar, Robert L. Sainburg, Sadettin Kirazci, Andrzej Przybyla, 2015, Journal of Motor Behavior on p. 302-311

Shanie AL Jayasinghe, Fabrice R. Sarlegna, Robert A. Scheidt, Robert L. Sainburg, 2021, Current Opinion in Physiology on p. 141-147

S. A.L. Jayasinghe, F. R. Sarlegna, R. A. Scheidt, R. L. Sainburg, 2020, Journal of Neurophysiology on p. 259-267

Laterality of Basic Motor Control Mechanisms: Different Roles of the Right and Left Brain Hemispheres

Robert L. Sainburg, 2016, on p. 155-177

News Articles Featuring Robert Sainburg

Sainburg named fellow of the National Academy of Kinesiology

Robert Sainburg, professor of kinesiology and neurology at Penn State and Dorothy F. and J. Lloyd Huck Distinguished Chair in Kinesiology and Neurology, was recently named a fellow of the National Academy of Kinesiology.

Alternative understanding of brain leads to new treatments for stroke patients

Since the early 20th century, researchers believed that movements on the right and left sides of the body were controlled by the opposite hemisphere of the brain. However, Penn State researcher Robert Sainburg proposed the complimentary dominance hypothesis, which states that both sides of the brain have a role to play in control of both sides of the body.

$4M grant funds project to make robotic prostheses more like biological limbs

Prosthetic hands that incorporate robotics can perform dexterous self-care tasks, but they are often hard to operate, requiring a user’s constant attention with a limited number of hand functions. With a five-year, $4 million U.S. National Science Foundation grant, Penn State researchers aim to make robotic protheses more useful for people living with amputations.

Robert Sainburg named Huck Chair in Kinesiology and Neurology

Robert “Bob” Sainburg, professor of kinesiology and of neurology and director of the Huck Institutes’ Center for Movement Science and Technology, has been named Huck Distinguished Chair in Kinesiology and Neurology.

The Other Hand

When it comes to therapy for stroke patients, sometimes treating the wrong hand is exactly right.