Alan Pearce
Role and profile
Dr Alan Pearce is senior teaching and research fellow in neuroscience. He also is the Director of the Cognitive and Exercise Neuroscience Unit in the School of Psychology and a Honourary Research Fellow in the School of Physiotherapy at The University of Melbourne. Having published over 60 peer-reviewed papers, his main work focuses on quantifying neuroplastic changes in the brain and spinal cord with cognitive and motor learning, exercise training and pain in healthy people and individuals with neurological and neurocognitive pathology.What hes working on at the moment: Using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to understand working memory, declarative memory and procedural memory using transcranial magnetic stimulation. Cortical excitability with dual tasking and dual task training Using rTMS and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for pain relief in people with chronic pain syndromes Teaching responsibilities
Dr Pearce is part of the Research Methods team for HPS301 but his main teaching responsibilities lie in research supervision for 4th year and masters research projects, and PhD students. Current students for 2012:Honours 2012: currently six students in working memory, pain management in fibromyalgia, and pain management following exercise-induced muscle damage. Masters by Research, and PhD Students: Mr Daniel Corp - The Effect of Dual Motor Task Training on the Human Motor Cortex. Mr Michael Do - The long term neurocognitive effects of a single session of multisite repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation: A randomised controlled trial. Ms Hannah Bereznicki - Investigating the role of transcranial direct current stimulation for pain relief in chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. Ms Ebonie Scase Neuroplastic changes following patella tendonopathy using transcranial magnetic stimualation (external supervisor). Mr Philip Seymour Acute and chronic central nervous system responses following dry needling technique (external supervisor). Research interests
Using TMS technique to measure mechnisms underlying neuroplasticity with cognitive and exercise interventions.
Awards and prizes
Sir Charles Gardner Hospital (Perth, WA) Clinical Investigator of the YearAustralian Neuroscience Society Travel Prize Memberships
Australian Neuroscience SocietyInternational Society for Motor Control Conferences
Pearce AJ, Latella C, Kidgell DJ. Excitatory and inhibitory corticospinal responses in the trained and untrained leg following 4 wks of unilateral leg strength training: A TMS study. Paper presented at the XIX Congress of the International Society of Electrophysiology and Kinesiology (ISEK) in Brisbane Australia, 2012Pearce AJ, Clark RA, Kidgell DJ. A comparison of two methods in acquiring stimulus-response curves with transcranial magnetic stimulation. Paper presented at XIX Congress of the International Society of Electrophysiology and Kinesiology (ISEK) in Brisbane Australia, 2012 Pearce AJ, Hendy A, Bowen W, Kidgell DJ. Corticospinal adaptations with cross education underpin retention of strength and neural excitability in an unweighted upper limb. Paper presented at the 8th Annual World Congress for Brain Mapping and Image Guided Therapy. San Francisco USA, 2011 Pearce AJ, Kidgell DJ. Motor Cortex Excitability Responses to a Simple Visual Reaction Time Task. Paper presented at the Sports Medicine Australia Conference in Adelaide, Australia, 2009. Pearce AJ, Grikepilis LA, Kidgell DJ, Carlson JS. Neural excitability changes following loss in strength from eccentric exercise. Paper presented at the New Zealand Sports Medicine Congerence in Hamilton, New Zealand, 2007. Pearce AJ, Thickbroom GW, Byrnes ML, Mastaglia FL. The effectiveness of repetitive practice on the neuromuscular pathways in elite badminton athletes. Paper presented at the 4th World Congress of Science and Racket Sports in Paris, France, 2004 |
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9th November 2012