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Adam  Thrasher

Adam Thrasher, Ph.D.

Associate Department Chair, Associate Professor

Office Number: 2069 H2
Phone: 713.743.5276
Fax: 713.743.9860

Email: athrasher3@uh.edu

Mailing Address:
3875 Holman St., Rm 104 Garrison
Houston, TX 77204-6015

Website:https://grants.hhp.uh.edu/adam/

Download Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests

Neuromuscular physiology and motor learning; Biomechanics and gait analysis; Electrical stimulation of paralyzed muscles to restore function; Rehabilitation engineering; Pathological locomotion.

Experience

During his postdoctoral fellowship in Toronto, Canada, Dr. Thrasher designed a research program in which he developed a new neuroprosthesis for walking therapy in people with chronic spinal cord injury. The neuroprosthesis has been used in a 16-week regimen of treadmill walking by over 24 patients. 80% of subjects experienced dramatic improvements in walking function. The efficacy of this intervention is now being tested in a randomized control trial at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute by a multidisciplinary team that Dr. Thrasher assembled to look at all aspects of the treatment from bone health to psychosocial factors. The intervention is also being extended to rehabilitation of hemiplegia due to stroke.

Recent Publications and Research Activity

Mishra RK, Thrasher TA. Effect of concurrent transcranial direct current stimulation on instrumented timed up and go task performance in people with Parkinson’s Disease: A double-blind and cross-over study. J Clin Neurosci. 2022 Jun; 100:184-191. doi:10.1016/j.jocn.2022.04.029

Mishra RK, Park C, Zhou H, Najafi B, Thrasher TA. Evaluation of Motor and Cognitive Performance in People with Parkinson's Disease Using Instrumented Trail-Making Test. Gerontology. 2022; 68(2):234-240. doi: 10.1159/000515940

Mishra RK, Thrasher TA. Transcranial direct current stimulation of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex improves dual-task gait performance in patients with Parkinson’s Disease: A double blind, sham-controlled study. Gait Posture. 2021 Feb; 84:11-16. doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2020.11.012

Workman CD, Thrasher TA. The Influence of Dopaminergic Medication on Balance Automaticity in Parkinson’s Disease. Gait & Posture 2019; 70:98-103.

Workman CD, Thrasher TA. The Influence of Dopaminergic Medication on Gait Automaticity in Parkinson's Disease. J Clin Neurosci 2019; 65:71-76.

Lee B-C, Fung A, Thrasher TA. The effects of coding schemes on vibrotactile biofeedback for dynamic balance training in Parkinson’s Disease and healthy elderly individuals. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems & Rehabilitation Engineering. 2018; 26(1):153-160.

Lee B-C, Martin BJ, Thrasher TA, Layne CS. The effects of vibrotactile cuing on recovery strategies from a treadmill-induced trip. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems & Rehabilitation Engineering. 2017; 25(3):235-243.

Thrasher TA, Fisher S. Muscle activation signals during Parkinson’s Disease gait are more rhythmic than normal. Journal of Neurological Research and Therapy. 2016; 1(4):20-28.

Lee B-C, Thrasher TA, Layne CS, Martin BJ. Vibrotactile cuing revisited to reveal a possible challenge to sensorimotor adaptation. Exp Brain Res. 2016; 234(12):3523-3530.

Workman CD, Thrasher TA. Validity and reliability of two reachable workspace protocols using subjects with stroke. Technol Health Care. 2016 Mar 4;24(4):513-21.

Lee B-C, Thrasher TA, Fisher S, Layne CS. The effects of different sensory augmentation on weight-shifting balance exercises in Parkinson’s disease and age-matched healthy elderly individuals. J Neuroeng Rehabil. 2015 Sep 2;12:75 (10 pages).

Thrasher TA, Fisher S. Changes in muscle coordination following Robot-Assisted Gait Training in hemiparetic stroke. J Novel Physiotherapies 2014; 4(4):1-3.

Thrasher TA, Fisher S. Societal Costs of Intrathecal Drug Delivery Systems-An Administrative Analysis Based on Patient Claims. Neuromodulation 2013; 16(3):261-265.

Thrasher TA, Ward JS, Fisher S. Changes in exercise capacity during a 13-week regimen of functional electrical stimulation leg cycling. NeuroRehabilitation 2013; 33(1):133-8.

Miyatani M, Masani K, Kawashima N, Craven BC, Thrasher TA, Popovic MR. Exercise Intensity during Treadmill Walking with Gait Patterned FES among Patients with Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury: Case Series. ISRN Rehabilitation 2012, Article ID 251750 (6 pages).

Uzun S, Purmoghaddam A, Hieronymus M, Thrasher TA. Evaluation of Muscle Fatigue of Wheelchair Basketball Players with Spinal Cord Injury using Recurrence Quantification Analysis of Surface EMG. Eur J Appl Physiol 2012; 112(11):3847-3857.

Bryant MS, Pourmoghaddam A, Thrasher TA. Gait changes with walking devices in persons with Parkinson’s Disease. Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol 2012; 7(2):149-52.

Vette AH, Yoshida T, Thrasher TA, Masani K, Popovic MR. A Comprehensive threedimensional dynamic model of the human head and trunk for estimating lumbar and cervical joint torques and forces from upper body kinematics. Medical Engineering & Physics 2012;
34(5):640-649.

Thrasher TA, Ward JS, Fisher S. Classification of rhythmic locomotor patterns in electromyographic signals using fuzzy sets. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation 2011; 8:65.

Vette AH, Yoshida T, Thrasher TA, Masani K, Popovic MR. A Complete, non-lumped, and verifiable set of upper body segment parameters for three-dimensional dynamic modeling. Medical Engineering & Physics 2011; 33(1):70-79.

Fisher S, Lucas L, Thrasher TA. Robot-assisted gait training for patients with hemiparesis due to stroke. Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation 2011; 18(3):269-276.

Education

B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at University of Alberta, 1994

Ph.D. in Medical Sciences at University of Alberta, 2002