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

Roles of Handedness and Hemispheric Lateralization: Implications for Rehabilitation of the Central and Peripheral Nervous Systems: A Rapid Review

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

The complementary dominance hypothesis: a model for remediating the ‘good’ hand in stroke survivors

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

Bilateral arm movements are coordinated via task-dependent negotiations between independent and codependent control, but not by a "coupling" control policy

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

Adaptive control is reversed between hands after left hemisphere stroke and lost following right hemisphere stroke

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

Ipsilesional arm training in severe stroke to improve functional independence (IPSI): phase II protocol

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

Reaction time asymmetries provide insight into mechanisms underlying dominant and non-dominant hand selection

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

Neural Control of Stopping and Stabilizing the Arm

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

Most-Cited Papers

Handedness results from complementary hemispheric dominance, not global hemispheric dominance: evidence from mechanically coupled bilateral movements

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

Effects of unilateral stroke on multi-finger synergies and their feed-forward adjustments

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

Functional Deficits in the Less-Impaired Arm of Stroke Survivors Depend on Hemisphere of Damage and Extent of Paretic Arm Impairment

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

Interlimb differences in coordination of unsupported reaching movements

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

Motor lateralization provides a foundation for predicting and treating non-paretic arm motor deficits in stroke

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

Lateralized motor control processes determine asymmetry of interlimb transfer

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

Motor asymmetry in elite fencers

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

Somatosensory deafferentation reveals lateralized roles of proprioception in feedback and adaptive feedforward control of movement and posture

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

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

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

The neural foundations of handedness: Insights from a rare case of deafferentation

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

News Articles Featuring Robert Sainburg

Feb 12, 2025

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.

Full Article

Jul 22, 2024

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.

Full Article

Jan 30, 2024

$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.

Full Article

Oct 14, 2021

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.

Full Article

Jul 30, 2019

The Other Hand

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

Full Article