Gelsy Torres-Oviedo, PhD

  • Assistant Professor, Bioengineering

Phone

412-624-2660

E-mail

geisyto@pitt.edu

Education & Training

PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory University (2007)

Campus Address

406 Benedum Hall

One-Line Research Description

Neuromechanical mechanisms for locomotor learning in humans with and without neurological disorders.

My group investigates the human ability to adapt walking patterns and learn new movements through interactions with the world. To this end we combine psychophysical experiments and computational tools to investigate locomotor learning in unimpaired subjects and patients with cortical lesions. Current studies specifically study 1) the adaptability of muscle coordination in patients and healthy subjects when they experience novel walking conditions, 2) the prediction error driving locomotor learning to sustained environmental perturbations, and 3) the generalization of adaptation effects from treadmill walking to over ground locomotor movements and 4) cognitive factors mediating locomotor learning and its generalization

Representative Publications

Iturralde PA, Torres-Oviedo G. Corrective Muscle Activity Reveals Subject-Specific Sensorimotor Recalibration. Eneuro. 6. PMID 31043463 DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0358-18.2019

 

Finley J., Long A., Bastian A.J., and Torres-Oviedo, G. Spatial and Temporal Contributions to Step Length Asymmetry: Applications to Split-Belt Adaptation and Hemiparetic Gait. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. 2015. Sep;29(8):786-95. 

 

Chvatal SA, Macpherson JM, Torres-Oviedo G, Ting LH. Absence of postural muscle synergies for balance following spinal cord transection. J Neurophysiol. 2013 Sep;110(6): 1301-10 

 

Torres-Oviedo G. and Bastian A.J. Natural error patterns enable transfer of motor learning to novel contexts. Journal of Neurophysiology. 107(1): 346-56, 2012.