Motor Function, Speech and Rehabilitation Study Section – MFSR
The Motor Function, Speech and Rehabilitation Study Section reviews applications on normal and disordered motor function, including speech and voice production. Function across the lifespan (infancy through old age) is addressed, and both human and animal models are considered. Also included are the development and evaluation of behavioral preventive and therapeutic interventions for movement, speech, voice, and related disorders. Although the focus is on behavior, studies may also consider associated anatomical, physiological, neural, hormonal, and genetic factors. Methods include but are not limited to behavioral experiments, physiological measurement, acoustic analysis, structural and functional imaging, functional stimulation, and computational modeling.
Review Dates
Topics
- Motor behavior including studies of motor development, motor learning, and motor control, across the lifespan. This includes human and animal studies focused on assessment, diagnosis, and rehabilitation of motor function at the behavior level, but not at the cellular, molecular, circuit, or tissue level.
- Rehabilitation and habilitation of motor development, including conditions like cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, and other congenital or developmental conditions affecting motor development.
- Evaluation and rehabilitation of motor learning or motor control deficits due to conditions including stroke, concussion and brain-based diseases and disorders (ALS, Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease/ frontotemporal degeneration, multiple sclerosis, etc.).
- Motor and sensorimotor learning and integration, including incorporation of intrinsic or extrinsic feedback on motor learning and motor planning.
- Motor assessment and rehabilitation of gait, balance, upper extremity, and lower extremity function using methods such as neuroimaging, assistive robotics and sensors, behavioral physical therapy, and non-invasive brain stimulation.
- Motor aspects of speech production including behavioral development and control of respiratory, laryngeal, and articulatory mechanisms, and related breathing, chewing, and swallowing actions.
- Behavioral evaluation and rehabilitation of motor-related speech, voice, vocal fold, larynx, and swallowing-related disorders
Shared Interests and Overlaps
There are shared interests in motor function with Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation Science [MRS]: Applications that focus on normal and impaired motor functioning of the joints, muscles, bones, and other peripheral aspects of the musculoskeletal system, and rehabilitation for disorders of the peripheral musculoskeletal system, are including conditions such as arthritis, osteoarthritis, fractures, repetitive injuries, muscle weakness, and others are reviewed in MRS. Applications focusing on disorders of motor control, motor learning, or motor development, and/or their rehabilitation, including brain-based conditions such as stroke, concussion, ALS, Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease/frontotemporal degeneration, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, and others, are reviewed in MFSR.
There are shared interests in motor learning and decision-making with Human Complex Mental Function [HCMF]. Applications that include both cognitive and motor components of rehabilitation but have a stronger emphasis on predominantly cognition-related outcomes are reviewed in HCMF. Applications that include both cognitive and motor components but focus more on motor-related outcomes are reviewed in MFSR.
There are shared interests in speech with Language and Communication [LCOM]. Applications related to linguistics, language characteristics (perception, development, acquisition), and language disorders are reviewed in LCOM. Applications related to motor production of speech (respiration, articulation, and voice production), including development, learning, and control of motor speech behavior as well as disorders such as voice disorders, dysfluency, articulation disorders, disorders of intelligibility, stuttering, speech sound disorders, dysphagia, and dysphonia are reviewed in MFSR.
There are shared interests in motor function with Sensory-Motor Neuroscience [SMN]. Applications focusing primarily at the circuit or neuronal level of motor function, including examination of structure and function of the circuits for motor, vestibular, and somatosensory systems are reviewed in SMN. Applications examining motor function of the same systems when the main outcomes are at the level of motor behavior and/or involving the significant component of rehabilitation/motor training are reviewed in MFSR.
There are shared interests in brain injury and stroke with Brain Injury and Neurovascular Disorders [BIND]. Applications focused on neurological mechanisms and outcomes of brain injury, and vascular contributions to cognitive impairment are reviewed in BIND. Applications focused primarily on motor control and/or motor learning deficits related to brain injury are reviewed in MFSR.
There are shared interests in motor behavior and motor development in autism with Childhood Psychopathology and Developmental Disabilities [CPDD]. Applications focused on motor dysfunction as one of multiple manifestations of autism, and/or that focus primarily on autism-based outcomes are reviewed in CPDD. Applications that focus on differences in motor behavior or motor development and use primarily motor outcomes are reviewed in MFSR.
