Dr. Andrew J. Butler

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Emory University
School of Medicine
Rehabilitation Medicine
Physical Therapy
Associate ProfessorAppointed: 2007
Emory University
School of Medicine
Rehabilitation Medicine
Assistant ProfessorAppointed: 2001
Professional Headshot of Andrew J. Butler

Mailing Address

1441 Clifton Road NE
Suite RG07
Atlanta, Georgia 30322
United States

Contact Information

Phone: (404) 712-5675
Fax: (404) 712-5895
andrew.butler@emory.edu
http://www.emory.edu/WHSC/MED/REHAB/wolflab/TeamBios/butler.html

Qualifications

M.S., Texas Woman's University, Physical Therapy, 1998.
Ph.D., University of Iowa, Motor Control, 1995.
B.S., Loras College, Biology, 1987.

Expertise and Research Interests

My research focuses primarily on how volitional movement, motor learning, and organized motor behavior are represented in the human brain. Currently, along with groups from Wake Forest University and The Ohio State University, we are interested in evaluating the effect of constraint-induced movement therapy on cortical motor reorganization following stroke using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).This approach may provide some insight into mechanisms responsible for restitution of functional capability in using an impaired limb that had previously not been used to manipulate the environment following a stroke.

In collaboration with Jay Alberts from Georgia Tech University we are using psychobehavior paradigms to investigate the effect of CI therapy on changes in grasping forces in normals and patients with stroke.

Future Research

I am interested in pursuing the use of mental motor imagery as a complementary intervention to CI therapy in the rehabilitation of the upper limbs of patients post-stroke.

In an effort to provide CI therapy to a larger group of stroke survivors, we are collaborating with a group from MIT looking at the use of virtual environments and telerehabilitation interfaces in the delivery of rehabilitation therapy.

Industrial Relevance

The current health care system provides stroke rehabilitation in the acute care hospital setting, in the rehabilitation setting and in the outpatient setting. The frequency of training in the outpatient setting is usually once or twice per week. The limited amount of therapy offered by the current system makes it difficult to provide the training intensity needed for neural reorganization and functional changes. Virtual environments may be a cost-effective solution for the delivery of intense rehabilitation interventions necessary to achieve functional goals.

Keywords

COS Keywords:

Brain, Brain Development, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Neuroscience, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Physical Therapy, Virtual Reality.

Additional Terms:

Virtual Reality.

Languages

(Reading, Writing, Speaking)

English: (Fluent, Fluent, Fluent)
German: (Functional, Basic, Functional)
Spanish: (Basic, Basic, Basic)

Memberships

American Physical Therapy Association
International Brain Research Organization
Organization for Human Brain Mapping
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
Society for Neuroscience

Honors and Awards

2007, Fellow American Heart Association, American Heart Association (AHA)
2002-2003, Outstanding Research Proposal, ERRIS Intensive workshop on grant writing, preparation, and submission in rehabilitation research., NIH-NCMRR award 1 R24 HD 39631, University of Virginia, rehabilitation
2001-2002, Young Investigator Award, International Stroke Symposium: Translating Principles of Brain Plasticity into Clinical Interventions., Center on Aging, University of Kansas Medical Center. NIH award 1 R13 HD041533, University of Kansas, Stroke

Previous Positions

1998-2001, Postdoctoral Fellow, Heinrich-Heine University, School of Medicine, Neurology
1996-1998, Postdoctoral Fellow, Texas Woman's University, Physical Therapy
1995-1996, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Iowa, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Exercise Science, Motor Control
1987-1995, Graduate Student, University of Iowa, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Exercise Science, Motor Control

Funding Received

  • Emory University Center for Research on Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Neurological Diseases: Mental motor imagery to reduce motor deficits in stroke, $35,000, Oct 1, 2002 to Sep 30, 2003.
  • Atlanta VA Rehabilitation Research & Development Grant, Developmental Project Grant- 508-D35012: Mental imagery to reduce motor deficits in stroke: fMRI approach, $20,000, Oct 1, 2002 to Sep 30, 2003.
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) Sonderforschungsbereich: SFB 194-Structure and Function in the Nervous System, $75,000, Jan 1, 1999 to Jun 30, 2001.
  • Site Principal Investigator Sub-contract from Wake Forest University?s Multi-Center Research Grant R01HD040984-01A1, David Good, PI: Motor Map Plasticity in Constraint Therapy for Stroke, $2,277,395, Apr 1, 2002 to Apr 31, 2006.
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH): NRSA-Post-doctoral fellowship #T32HD07441, $30,000, 1996 to 1998.
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH): NRSA-Post-doctoral fellowship #AG00214-05, $25,000, 1995 to 1996.
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH): NRSA-Pre-doctoral fellowship, $10,000, 1994 to 1995.

Publications

  • Butler AJ, Wolf SL (Jun 2007) Putting the brain on the map: use of transcranial magnetic stimulation to assess and induce cortical plasticity of upper-extremity movement., Physical therapy, 87 (6), 719-36 Abstract
  • Darling WG, Seitz RJ, Peltier S, Tellmann L, Butler AJ (Jun 2007) Visual cortex activation in kinesthetic guidance of reaching., Experimental brain research. Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Expérimentation cérébrale, 179 (4), 607-19 Abstract
  • Butler AJ, Page SJ (Dec 2006) Mental practice with motor imagery: evidence for motor recovery and cortical reorganization after stroke., Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 87 (12 Suppl 2), S2-11 Abstract
  • Darling WG, Wolf SL, Butler AJ (Sep 2006) Variability of motor potentials evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation depends on muscle activation., Experimental brain research. Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Expérimentation cérébrale, 174 (2), 376-85 Abstract
  • Corneal SF, Butler AJ, Wolf SL (Aug 2005) Intra- and intersubject reliability of abductor pollicis brevis muscle motor map characteristics with transcranial magnetic stimulation., 86 (8), 1670-5 Abstract
  • Niyazov DM, Butler AJ, Kadah YM, Epstein CM, Hu XP (Jul 2005) Functional magnetic resonance imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation: effects of motor imagery, movement and coil orientation., 116 (7), 1601-10 Abstract
  • Wolf SL, Butler AJ, Alberts JL, Kim MW (Jun 2005) Contemporary linkages between EMG, kinetics and stroke rehabilitation., 15 (3), 229-39 Abstract
  • Alberts JL, Butler AJ, Wolf SL (Dec 2004) The effects of constraint-induced therapy on precision grip: a preliminary study., 18 (4), 250-8 Abstract
  • Wolf SL, Butler AJ, Campana GI, Parris TA, Struys DM, Weinstein SR, Weiss P (Aug 2004) Intra-subject reliability of parameters contributing to maps generated by transcranial magnetic stimulation in able-bodied adults., 115 (8), 1740-7 Abstract
  • Park SW, Butler AJ, Cavalheiro V, Alberts JL, Wolf SL (Jun 2004) Changes in serial optical topography and TMS during task performance after constraint-induced movement therapy in stroke: a case study., 18 (2), 95-105 Abstract
  • Butler AJ, Fink GR, Dohle C, Wunderlich G, Tellmann L, Seitz RJ, Zilles K, Freund HJ (Mar 2004) Neural mechanisms underlying reaching for remembered targets cued kinesthetically or visually in left or right hemispace., 21 (3), 165-77 Abstract
  • Binkofski F, Butler A, Buccino G, Heide W, Fink G, Freund HJ, Seitz RJ (Nov 2003) Mirror apraxia affects the peripersonal mirror space. A combined lesion and cerebral activation study., 153 (2), 210-9 Abstract
  • Butler AJ, Wolf SL, Transcranial magnetic stimulation to assess cortical plasticity: a critical perspective for stroke rehabilitation, Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine : Official Journal of the Uems European Board of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine., 20-26, May 2003 Abstract
  • Butler AJ, Wolf SL (May 2003) Transcranial magnetic stimulation to assess cortical plasticity: a critical perspective for stroke rehabilitation. (41 Suppl), 20-6 Abstract
  • Darling WG, Rizzo M, Butler AJ, Disordered sensorimotor transformations for reaching following posterior cortical lesions, Neuropsychologia, 39(3), 237-54, 2001 Abstract
  • Darling WG, Rizzo M, Butler AJ (2001) Disordered sensorimotor transformations for reaching following posterior cortical lesions., 39 (3), 237-54 Abstract
  • Darling WG, Butler AJ, Williams TE, Visual perceptions of head-fixed and trunk-fixed anterior/posterior axes, Experimental Brain Research, 112(1), 127-34, November 1996 Abstract
  • Butler AJ, Yue G, Darling WG, Variations in soleus H-reflexes as a function of plantarflexion torque in man, Brain Research, 632(1-2), 95-104, December 1993 Abstract

Profile Details

Last Updated: 2/29/2008

COS Expertise ID #962919
Reference this profile directly: http://myprofile.cos.com/andrew_butler