Research Interests:
Prof. Reinkensmeyer's research interests are in neuromuscular control, motor learning, robotics, and rehabilitation. A major goal  is to develop physically interacting, mechatronic devices ("rehabilitators") to help the nervous system recover arm and leg movement ability after neurologic injuries such as stroke and spinal cord injury.  Another goal is to understand the adaptive control processes that enable motor learning, in order to provide a rational basis for designing rehabilitators.  Prof. Reinkensmeyer's laboratory has developed a variety of robotic devices for manipulating and measuring movement in humans and rodents.   These devices are being used to investigate the role of mechanical assistance in retraining arm movement following stroke, the feasibility of providing movement training remotely using the Internet, and the role of sensory information in locomotor plasticity after spinal cord injury.  Prof. Reinkensmeyer's laboratory also uses computational models to better understand neural control principles.

Biographical Sketch:
Dr. Reinkensmeyer’s received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge in 1988, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1991 and 1993, with dissertation work on human control of hand movements and robotic devices for movement therapy after stroke.  He was a postdoctoral fellow then research assistant professor in the Sensory Motor Performance Program, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Northwestern University Medical School from 1994 – 1998.  He joined the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Center for Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, Irvine in 1998. Dr. Reinkensmeyer is a member of the IEEE-Engineering in Medicine and Biology and Robotics and Automation Societies and the Society for Neuroscience, and is an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.

Biomechatronics Laboratory

Aoyagi D, Ichinose WE, Harkema SJ, Reinkensmeyer DJ, Bobrow JE (2007) A robot and control algorithm that can synchronously assist in naturalistic motion during body weight supported gait training following neurologic injury, to appear, IEEE Trans Neural Syst and Rehab Eng

Emken JL, Benitez R, Reinkensmeyer DJ (2007) Human-robot cooperative movement training: learning a novel sensory motor transformation during walking with robotic assistance-as-needed, Journal of Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation, 4:8  

Sanchez RJ, Liu J, Rao S, Shah P, Smith R, Cramer SC, Bobrow JE, Reinkensmeyer DJ (2006) Automating arm movement training following severe stroke: functional exercises with quantitative feedback in a gravity-reduced environment, IEEE Transactions on Neural and Rehabilitation Engineering, 14:3, 378-389

Kahn LE, Zygman ML, Rymer WZ, Reinkensmeyer DJ (2006) Robot-assisted reaching exercise promotes arm movement recovery in chronic hemiparetic stroke: A randomized controlled pilot study, Journal of Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation, 3:12

Reinkensmeyer DJ, Emken JL, Cramer SC (2004) Robotics, motor learning, and neurologic recovery, Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering, August 2004, Vol. 6, pp. 497-525

Takahashi CD, Nemet D, Rose-Gottron CM, Larson JK, Cooper DM, Reinkensmeyer DJ (2003) Neuromotor noise limits motor performance, but not motor adaptation, in children. Journal of Neurophysiology 90:703-722

Reinkensmeyer DJ, Iobbi MG, Kahn LE, Kamper DG, Takahashi CD (2003) Modeling reaching impairment after stroke using a population vector model of movement control that incorporates neural firing rate variability, Neural Computation, vol. 15, no. 11, 2619-2642

Takahashi CD, Reinkensmeyer DJ (2003) Hemiparetic stroke impairs anticipatory control of arm movement, Experimental Brain Research 149(2):131-40.

Timoszyk WK, de Leon RD, London N, Roy RR, Edgerton VR, Reinkensmeyer DJ (2002) The rat lumbosacral spinal cord adapts to robotic loading applied during stance, Journal of Neurophysiology, 88(6):3108-17

Reinkensmeyer DJ, Pang CT, Nessler CA, Painter CC (2002) Web-based telerehabilitation for the upper-extremity after stroke, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 102-108

Takahashi CD, Scheidt RA, Reinkensmeyer DJ (2001) Impedance control and internal model formation when reaching in a randomly varying dynamical environment, Journal of Neurophysiology, 86:1047-1051

Reinkensmeyer DJ, Kahn LE, Averbuch M, McKenna-Cole AN, Schmit BD, Rymer WZ (2000) Understanding and treating arm movement impairment after chronic brain injury: Progress with the ARM Guide, Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, Vol. 37 No. 6, pp. 653-662