Neurorehabilitation and Applied Physiology (NAP) Lab

Lab History and Focus

Dr. Johnson’s laboratory has four primary areas of interest: 

  1. Investigating the mechanisms underlying the formation, retention, and generalization of motor skills; 
  2. Developing novel behavioral and neuromodulatory interventions that target these mechanisms; 
  3. Translating these interventions to restore motor function and increase community participation of individuals with neurological damage; and 
  4. Developing and/or refining clinical outcome measures to document improvements in motor function and community participation in individuals with neurological damage. 

The NAP lab utilizes behavioral, neuromodulatory, and neuroimaging methods to approach these four primary areas of research interest. 

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Research Publications

Singh, P; Chen, E; Steel, B; Chicoine, N; Yakdan, S; Bydon, M; Steinmetz, M; Ghogawala, Z; Ray, W; Johnson, B; Duncan, R; Wilt, Z; Badhiwala, J; Kelleher, C; Greenberg, J (2025). A Neurosurgeon's Guide to Mobile Health Application Development With a Case Study for Cervical Myelopathy. Neurosurgery, 10; DOI: 10.1227/neu.0000000000003717

Iwane F, Johnson B, & Cohen L (2024). Commentary: Generalization of procedural motor sequence learning after a single practice trial. Journal of Neurology and Neuromedicine, 8(1): 5-6; DOI: 10.29245/2572.942X/2024/1.1295 

Tomlin K, Johnson B, & Westlake K (2024). Age-Related differences in motor skill transfer with brief memory reactivation. Brain Sciences, 14(1), 65; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14010065 

Johnson B, Iturrate I, Fakhreddine R, Bönstrup M, Buch E, Robertson EM, & Cohen L (2023). Generalization of procedural motor sequence learning after a single practice trial. npj Sci. Learn. 8, 45. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-023-00194-7 

Johnson B, Whitall J, McCombe Waller S, & Westlake K (2022). Development and psychometric testing of a bimanual assessment measure for people with chronic stroke. AJOT. 76(4):7604205030. doi: 10.5014/ajot.2022.048995.

Johnson B, Verceles A, Scharf S, & Westlake K (2021). Enhancing motor learning in people with stroke via memory reactivation during sleep. Rehabilitation Psychology. doi: 10.1037/rep0000401. Epub 2021 Sep 30.

Johnson B, Censor N, Dayan E, & Cohen L (2021).Crowdsourcing in cognitive and systems neuroscience. The Neuroscientist. doi: 10.1177/10738584211017018. 

Johnson B, Cohen L, & Westlake K (2021). The intersection of offline learning and rehabilitation. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.667574. 

Johnson B, Verceles A, Scharf S, & Westlake K (2020). Sensorimotor performance is improved by targeted memory reactivation during a daytime nap in healthy older adults. Neuroscience Letters. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2020.134973. 

Johnson B & Westlake K (2020). Chronic post-stroke deficits in ipsilesional upper extremity gross and fine motor control. American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. doi: 10.1097/PHM.0000000000001569. 

Johnson B, Shipper A, & Westlake K (2019). Systematic review of non-pharmacological interventions applied during sleep to enhance rehabilitation outcomes in people with neurologic diagnoses. Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 33(5), 345-354. doi: 10.1177/1545968319840288. 

Johnson B, Verceles A, Scharf S, & Westlake K (2019). Use of targeted memory reactivation enhances skill performance during a nap and enhances declarative memory during wake in healthy young adults. Journal of Sleep Research. doi: 10.111/jsr.12832. 

Johnson B, Scharf S, & Westlake K (2018). Targeted memory reactivation during sleep, but not wake, improves sensorimotor skill performance in healthy young adults: A pilot study. J MOTOR BEHAV. 50(2), 202-209. doi: 10.1080/00222895.2017.1327411. 

Johnson B & Westlake K (2017). Link between Parkinson’s disease and rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder with dream enactment: Possible implications for early rehabilitation. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 99(2), 411-415. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2017.08.468. 

Johnson B & Johnston M (2017). Determining the feasibility, content validity, and internal consistency of a newly developed care coordination scale for people with brain injury. OJOT. 5(3). doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.1331.

Westlake K & Johnson B, Creath R, Neff R, & Rogers M. (2016). Influence of non-spatial working memory load on reach-grasp responses to loss of balance: Effects of age and fall risk. Gait & Posture, 45, 51-55. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2016.01.007. 

Westlake K & Johnson B (2016). Commentary on “Facilitation of the Lesioned Motor Cortex during Tonic Contraction of the Unaffected Limb Corresponds to Motor Status Following Stroke”. J of Neurol Phys Ther., 40(1), 22-23. doi: 10.1097/NPT.0000000000000118. 

Opportunities

Undergraduate students and entry-level professional students

  • Dr. Johnson mentors talented undergraduate and graduate students spanning fields such as occupational therapy, physical therapy, computer science, psychology, neuroscience, and others. The long-term goal is to create high-quality research discoveries, while the short-term goals are to teach and progress the careers of NAP lab trainees, and to help out the local community in the process of conducting our research.
     
  • Through an interactive and collaborative process with Dr. Johnson and other laboratory personnel, trainees will engage in research topics of collaborative interest to generate high-quality research while also learning about the research process and enhancing research skills. Trainees will have the opportunity to collect, analyze and interpret data in both ongoing and new studies. In addition, they may engage in other lab activities such as literature/scoping reviews, conducting review of manuscripts submitted to peer-reviewed journals, development of assessments and/or research tools, presenting results, and writing journal articles.
     
  • Contact us: [email protected]