Geoff Hammond

PhD, University of Rochester, 1973

Professor

telephone   +61 8 6488 3236

email    geoff@psy.uwa.edu.au

My lab is using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to study cortical motor function (particularly hand function) in conscious behaving humans.  Much of this work examines the function of the inhibitory and excitatory circuits within motor cortex which have been implicated in modulating its output (in shaping and refining the movement that is produced) and in its capacity for functional reorganization with experience.  Studies are in progress on the motor cortical mechanisms of manual dexterity and handedness (the asymmetry of manual dexterity) and on use-dependent reorganization of motor cortex.
 

Some recent publications:

Hammond, G.R. & Fox, A.M. (2005).  Electrophysiological evidence for lateralization of preparatory motor processes.  NeuroReport, 16, 559-562.
 
Hammond, G.R., Seth, Y., & Ison, J.R. (2005).  Concurrent measurement of the detectability of tone bursts and their effect on the excitability of the human blink reflex using a probe-signal method.  Hearing Research, 202, 28-34.
 
Reilly, K.T. & Hammond, G.R. (2004). Human handedness: Is there a difference in the independence of the digits on the preferred and non-preferred hands? Experimental Brain Research, 156, 255-262.
 
Hammond, G.R., Faulkner, D., Byrnes, M.L., Mastaglia, F.L, & Thickbroom, G.W. (2004). Transcranial magnetic stimulation reveals asymmetrical efficacy of intracortical circuits in primary motor cortex. Experimental Brain Research, 155, 19-23.
 
Hammond, G.R. (2002). Correlates of human handedness in primary motor cortex: a review and hypothesis. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 26, 285-292.