Research

Research Interests

The neural control of movement

Rehabilitation after injury to the motor system

Sub-cortical systems for motor control

The reticulospinal tract

Oscillations and the role of synchronous neural activity in information processing

Tremor

Publications

• Glover IS, Baker SN. Cortical, corticospinal and reticulospinal contributions to strength training. Journal of Neuroscience 2020, 40(30), 5820-5832.
• Foysal KMR, Baker SN. Induction of Plasticity in the Human Motor System by Motor Imagery and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. Journal of Physiology 2020, 598(12), 2385-2396.
• Soteropoulos DS, Baker SN. Long Latency Responses to a Mechanical Perturbation of the Index Finger have a Spinal Component. Journal of Neuroscience 2020, 40(20), 3933-3948.
• Walker S, Piitulainen H, Manlangit T, Avela J, Baker SN. Older adults show elevated intermuscular coherence in eyes-open standing but only young adults increase coherence in response to closing the eyes . Experimental Physiology 2020, 105(6).
• Albert ST, Hadsioif AM, Jang J, Zimnik A, Soteropoulos DS, Baker SN, Churchland MM, Krakauer JW, Shadmehr R. Postural control of arm and fingers through integration of movement commands. elife 2020, 9, e52507.
• Foysal KMR, Baker SN. A Hierarchy of Corticospinal Plasticity in Human Hand and Forearm Muscles. Journal of Physiology 2019, 597(10), 2729-2739.
• Walker S, Avela J, Wikgren J, Meeusen R, Piitulainen H, Baker SN, Parviainen TM. Aging and Strength Training Influence Knee Extensor Intermuscular Coherence During Low- and High-Force Isometric Contractions. Frontiers in Physiology 2019, 9, 1933.
• Glover IS, Baker SN. Multimodal Stimuli Modulate Rapid Visual Responses during Reaching. Journal of Neurophysiology 2019, 122(5), 1894-1908.
• Kurz A, Xu W, Wiegel P, Leukel C, Baker SN. Non-invasive Assessment of Superficial and Deep Layer Circuits in Human Motor Cortex. Journal of Physiology 2019, 597(12), 2975-2991.
• Choudhury S, Roy A, Mondal B, Singh R, Halder S, Chatterjee K, Baker MR, Kumar H, Baker SN. Slowed Movement Stopping in Parkinson’s Disease and Focal Dystonia is Improved by Standard Treatment. Scientific Reports 2019, 9, 19504.
• Kraskov A, Soteropoulos DS, Glover I, Lemon RN, Baker SN. Slowly-Conducting Pyramidal Tract Neurons in Macaque and Rat. Cerebral Cortex 2020, 30(5), 3403-3418.
• Kraskov A, Baker S, Soteropoulos D, Kirkwood P, Lemon R. The Corticospinal Discrepancy: Where are all the Slow Pyramidal Tract Neurons?. Cerebral Cortex 2019, 29(9), 3977-3981.
• Choudhury S, Shobhana A, Singh R, Sen D, Anand SS, Shubham S, Baker MR, Kumar H, Baker SN. The Relationship Between Enhanced Reticulospinal Outflow and Upper Limb Function in Chronic Stroke Patients. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair 2019, 33(5), 375-383.
• Choudhury S, Singh R, Chatterjee P, Trivedi S, Shubham S, Baker MR, Kumar H, Baker SN. Abnormal Blink Reflex and Intermuscular Coherence in Writer's Cramp. Frontiers in Neurology 2018, 9, 517.
• Zaaimi B, Soteropoulos DS, Fisher KM, Riddle CN, Baker SN. Classification of Neurons in the Primate Reticular Formation and Changes After Recovery From Pyramidal Tract Lesion. Journal of Neuroscience 2018, 38(27), 6190-6206.
• Aguiar SA, Baker SN. Convergent Spinal Circuits Facilitating Human Wrist Flexors. Journal of Neuroscience 2018, 38(16), 3929-3938.
• Aguiar SA, Baker SN. Descending inputs to spinal circuits facilitating and inhibiting human wrist flexors. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2018, 12, 147.
• Zaaimi B, Dean LR, Baker SN. Different Contributions of Primary Motor Cortex, Reticular Formation and Spinal Cord to Fractionated Muscle Activation. Journal of Neurophysiology 2018, 119(1), 235-250.
• Aguiar SA, Choudhury S, Kumar H, Perez MA, Baker SN. Effect of central lesions on a spinal circuit facilitating human wrist flexors. Scientific Reports 2018, 8, 14821.
• Xu W, Baker SN. In Vitro Characterisation of Intrinsic Properties and Local Synaptic Inputs to Pyramidal Neurons in Macaque Primary Motor Cortex. European Journal of Neuroscience 2018, 48(4), 1976-2097.
• Aguiar SA, Baker SN, Gant K, Bohorquez J, Thomas CK. Spasms after spinal cord injury show low-frequency intermuscular coherence. Journal of Neurophysiology 2018, 120(4), 1765-1771.
• Dean LR, Baker SN. Fractionation of muscle activity in rapid responses to startling cues. Journal of Neurophysiology 2017, 117(4), 1713-1719.
• Baker SN, Perez MA. Reticulospinal Contributions to Gross Hand Function after Human Spinal Cord Injury. Journal of Neuroscience 2017, 37(40), 9778-9784.
• Witham CL, Fisher KM, Edgley SA, Baker SN. Corticospinal Inputs to Primate Motoneurons Innervating the Forelimb from Two Divisions of Primary Motor Cortex and Area 3a. Journal of Neuroscience 2016, 36(9), 2605-2616.
• Sohal HS, Vassilevski K, Jackson A, Baker SN, ONeill A. Design and Microfabrication Considerations for Reliable Flexible Intracortical Implants. Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering 2016, 2(3).
• Jaiser SR, Baker MR, Baker SN. Intermuscular Coherence in Normal Adults: Variability and Changes with Age. PLoS ONE 2016, 11(2), e0149029.
• Sohal HS, Clowry GJ, Jackson A, O'Neill A, Baker SN. Mechanical Flexibility Reduces the Foreign Body Response to Long-Term Implanted Microelectrodes in Rabbit Cortex. PLoS One 2016, 11(10), e0165606.
• Brown KI, Williams ER, de Carvalho F, Baker SN. Plastic Changes in Human Motor Cortical Output Induced by Random but not Closed-Loop Peripheral Stimulation: the Curse of Causality. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2016, 10, 590.
• Foysal KMR, de Carvalho F, Baker SN. Spike Timing-Dependent Plasticity in the Long-Latency Stretch Reflex Following Paired Stimulation from a Wearable Electronic Device. Journal of Neuroscience 2016, 36(42), 10823-10830.
• Xu W, Baker SN. Timing Intervals Using Population Synchrony and Spike Timing Dependent Plasticity. Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience 2016, 10, 123.
• Fisher KM, Jillani NE, Oluoch GO, Baker SN. Blocking central pathways in the primate motor system using high-frequency sinusoidal current. Journal of Neurophysiology 2015, 113(5), 1670-1680.
• Telenczuk B, Baker SN, Kempter R, Curio G. Correlates of a single cortical action potential in the epidural EEG. NeuroImage 2015, 109, 357-367.
• Galán F, Baker SN. Deafferented controllers: a fundamental failure mechanism in cortical neuroprosthetic systems. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 2015, 9, 186.
• Galan F, Baker MR, Alter K, Baker SN. Degraded EEG Decoding of Wrist Movements in Absence of Kinaesthetic Feedback. Human Brain Mapping 2015, 36(2), 643-654.
• Witham CL, Baker SN. Information theoretic analysis of proprioceptive encoding during finger flexion in the monkey sensorimotor system. Journal of Neurophysiology 2015, 113(1), 295-306.
• Baker SN, Zaaimi B, Fisher KM, Edgley SA, Soteropoulos DS. Pathways mediating functional recovery. Progress in Brain Research 2015, 218, 389-412.
• Baker SN, Zaaimi B, Fisher KM, Edgley SA, Soteropoulos DS. Pathways mediating functional recovery. Progress in Brain Research 2015, 218, 389-412.
• Galán F, Baker SN. Pre-Synaptic Inhibition of Afferent Feedback in the Macaque Spinal Cord Does Not Modulate with Cycles of Peripheral Oscillations Around 10 Hz. Frontiers in Neural Circuits 2015, 9, 76.
• Jaiser SR, Barnes JD, Baker SN, Baker MR. A multiple regression model of normal central and peripheral motor conduction times. Muscle & Nerve 2014, 51(5), 706-712.
• Yi X, Fisher KM, Lai M, Mansoor K, Bicker R, Baker SN. Differences between Han Chinese and Caucasians in transcranial magnetic stimulation parameters. Experimental Brain Research 2014, 232(2), 545-553.
• Kozelj S, Baker SN. Different phase delays of peripheral input to primate motor cortex and spinal cord promote cancellation at physiological tremor frequencies. Journal of Neurophysiology 2014, 111(10), 2001-2016.
• Trenado C, Amtage F, Huethe F, Schulte-Monting J, Mendez-Balbuena I, Baker SN, Baker M, Hepp-Reymond MC, Manjarrez E, Kristeva R. Suppression of Enhanced Physiological Tremor via Stochastic Noise: Initial Observations. PLoS One 2014, 9(11), e112782.
• Sohal HS, Jackson A, Jackson R, Clowry GJ, Vassilevski K, O'Neill A, Baker SN. The sinusoidal probe: a new approach to improve electrode longevity . Frontiers in Neuroengineering 2014, 7, 10.
• Fisher KM, Chinnery PF, Baker SN, Baker MR. Enhanced reticulospinal output in patients with (REEP1) hereditary spastic paraplegia type 31. Journal of Neurology 2013, 260(12), 3182-3184.
• Soteropoulos DS, Edgley SA, Baker SN. Spinal Commissural Connections to Motoneurons Controlling the Primate Hand and Wrist. Journal of Neuroscience 2013, 33(23), 9614-9625.
• Jaiser S, Fisher KM, Zaaimi B, Seow H, Miller JAL, Chinnery PF, Williams TL, Baker SN, Baker MR. 15-30 HZ Intermuscular Coherence as a Potential Biomarker of Upper Motor Neuron Dysfunction in Motor Neuron Disease. In: Annual Meeting of the Association of British Neurologists 2011. 2012, Gateshead, UK: B M J Group.
• Baker MR, Baker SN. Beta-Adrenergic Modulation of Tremor and Corticomuscular Coherence in Humans. PLoS One 2012, 7(11), e49088.
• Fisher KM, Zaaimi B, Williams TL, Baker SN, Baker MR. Beta-band intermuscular coherence: a novel biomarker of upper motor neuron dysfunction in motor neuron disease. Brain 2012, 135(9), 2849-2864.
• Soteropoulos DS, Williams ER, Baker SN. Cells in the Monkey Ponto-medullary Reticular Formation Modulate Their Activity with Slow Finger Movements. Journal of Physiology 2012, 590, 4011-4027.
• Zaaimi B, Edgley SA, Soteropoulos DS, Baker SN. Changes in descending motor pathway connectivity after corticospinal tract lesion in macaque monkey. Brain 2012, 135(7), 2277-2289.
• Witham CL, Baker SN. Coding of digit displacement by cell spiking and network oscillations in the monkey sensorimotor cortex. Journal of Neurophysiology 2012, 108(12), 3342-3352.
• Perez MA, Soteropoulos DS, Baker SN. Corticomuscular coherence during bilateral isometric arm voluntary activity in healthy humans. Journal of Neurophysiology 2012, 107(8), 2154-2162.
• Witham CL, Baker SN. Directional coherence disentangles causality within the sensorimotor loop, but cannot open the loop Reply. Journal of Physiology 2012, 590(10), 2531-2533.
• Fisher KM, Zaaimi B, Baker SN. Reticular formation responses to magnetic brain stimulation of primary motor cortex. Journal of Physiology 2012, 590(16), 4045-4060.
• Witham CL, Riddle CN, Baker MR, Baker SN. Contributions of descending and ascending pathways to corticomuscular coherence in humans. Journal of Physiology 2011, 589(15), 3789-3800.
• Telenczuk B, Baker SN, Herz AV, Curio G. High-frequency EEG covaries with spike burst patterns detected in cortical neurons. Journal of Neurophysiology 2011, 105(6), 2951-2959.
• Soteropoulos DS, Edgley SA, Baker SN. Lack of evidence for direct corticospinal contributions to control of the ipsilateral forelimb in monkey. Journal of Neuroscience 2011, 31(31), 11208-112019.
• Witham CL, Baker SN. Modulation and transmission of peripheral inputs in monkey cuneate and external cuneate nuclei. Journal of Neurophysiology 2011, 106(5), 2764-2775.
• Cassidy AJ, Williams ER, Goldsmith P, Baker SN, Baker MR. The Man Who Could Not Walk Backward: A Unusual Presentation of Neuroferritinopathy. Movement Disorders 2011, 26(2), 362-364.
• Baker SN. The primate reticulospinal tract, hand function and functional recovery. The Journal of Physiology 2011, 589(23), 5603-5612.
• Sohal H, Jackson A, Jackson R, Vasilevskiy K, Clowry GJ, O'Neill A, Baker SN. A novel flexible sinusoidal electrode to enhance longevity of chronic neuronal recordings. In: 40th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. 2010, San Diego, California, USA: Society for Neuroscience.
• McDonald C, Newton J, Lai HM, Baker SN, Jones DE. Central nervous system dysfunction in primary biliary cirrhosis and its relationship to symptoms. Journal of Hepatology 2010, 53(6), 1095-1100.
• Riddle CN, Baker SN. Convergence of Pyramidal and Medial Brain Stem Descending Pathways Onto Macaque Cervical Spinal Interneurons. Journal of Neurophysiology 2010, 103(5), 2821-2832.
• Witham CL, Wang M, Baker SN. Corticomuscular coherence between motor cortex, somatosensory areas and forearm muscles in the monkey. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience 2010, 4, 38.
• Williams ER, Jones RE, Baker SN, Baker MR. Slow Orthostatic Tremor Can Persist When Walking Backward. Movement Disorders 2010, 25(6), 795-797.
• Williams ER, Soteropoulos DS, Baker SN. Spinal interneuron circuits reduce approximately 10-Hz movement discontinuities by phase cancellation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2010, 107(24), 11098-11103.
• Fisher KM, Lai HM, Baker MR, Burn DJ, Baker SN. Using Multiple Electrophysiological Techniques for the Differentiation of Parkinsonian Syndromes [abstract]. Movement Disorders 2010, 25(s3), S638-S639.
• Williams ER, Baker SN. Circuits Generating Corticomuscular Coherence Investigated Using a Biophysically Based Computational Model. I. Descending Systems. Journal of Neurophysiology 2009, 101(1), 31-41.
• Williams ER, Soteropoulos DS, Baker SN. Coherence Between Motor Cortical Activity and Peripheral Discontinuities During Slow Finger Movements. Journal of Neurophysiology 2009, 102(2), 1296-1309.
• Fisher KM, Lai HM, Baker MR, Baker SN. Corticospinal activation confounds cerebellar effects of posterior fossa stimuli. Clinical Neurophysiology 2009, 120(12), 2109-2113.
• Riddle CN, Edgley SA, Baker SN. Direct and Indirect Connections with Upper Limb Motoneurons from the Primate Reticulospinal Tract. Journal of Neuroscience 2009, 29(15), 4993-4999.
• Soteropoulos DS, Baker SN. Quantifying Neural Coding of Event Timing. Journal of Neurophysiology 2009, 101(1), 402-417.
• Williams ER, Baker SN. Renshaw Cell Recurrent Inhibition Improves Physiological Tremor by Reducing Corticomuscular Coupling at 10 Hz. Journal of Neuroscience 2009, 29(20), 6616-6624.
• Baker M, Fisher K, Lai M, Duddy M, Baker S. Slow Orthostatic Tremor in Multiple Sclerosis. Movement Disorders 2009, 24(10), 1550-1553.
• Fisher KM, Baker MR, Williams TL, Baker SN. 15-30 Hz corticomuscular and intermuscular coherence is absent in patients with primary lateral sclerosis. In: 12th Congress of the European Federation of Neurological Societies. 2008, Madrid, Spain: European Journal of Neurology: Blackwell Publishing.
• Soteropoulos D, Baker S. Bilateral representation in the deep cerebellar nuclei. Journal of Physiology 2008, 586(4), 1117-1136.
• Radhakrishnan SM, Baker SN, Jackson A. Learning a novel myoelectric-controlled interface task. Journal of Neurophysiology 2008, 100(4), 2397-2408.
• Fisher KM, Nichols PP, Baker MR, Baker SN. The effect of levetiracetam on cerebellar intention tremor in patients with multiple sclerosis. In: 12th Congress of the European Federation of Neurological Societies. 2008, Madrid, Spain: European Journal of Neurology: Blackwell Publishing.
• Witham CL, Wang M, Baker SN. Cells in somatosensory areas show synchrony with beta oscillations in monkey motor cortex. European Journal of Neuroscience 2007, 26(9), 2677-2686.
• Soteropoulos DS, Baker SN. Different contributions of the corpus callosum and cerebellum to motor coordination in monkey. Journal of Neurophysiology 2007, 98(5), 2962-2973.
• Mitchell WK, Baker MR, Baker SN. Muscle responses to transcranial stimulation in man depend on background oscillatory activity. Journal of Physiology 2007, 583(2), 567-579.
• Witham C, Baker S. Network oscillations and intrinsic spiking rhythmicity do not covary in monkey sensorimotor areas. Journal of Physiology 2007, 580(3), 801-814.
• Baker SN. Oscillatory interactions between sensorimotor cortex and the periphery. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 2007, 17(6), 649-655.
• Baker SN, Chiu M, Fetz EE. Afferent encoding of central oscillations in the monkey arm. Journal of Neurophysiology 2006, 95(6), 3904-3910.
• Soteropoulos DS, Baker SN. Cortico-cerebellar coherence during a precision grip task in the monkey. Journal of Neurophysiology 2006, 95(2), 1194-1206.
• Riddle CN, Baker SN. Digit displacement, not object compliance, underlies task dependent modulations in human corticomuscular coherence. NeuroImage 2006, 33(2), 618-627.
• Davies RM, Gerstein GL, Baker SN. Measurement of time-dependent changes in the irregularity of neural spiking. Journal of Neurophysiology 2006, 96(2), 906-918.
• Jackson A, Baker SN, Fetz EE. Tests for presynaptic modulation of corticospinal terminals from peripheral afferents and pyramidal tract in the macaque. Journal of Physiology 2006, 573(1), 107-120.
• Riddle CN, Baker SN. Manipulation of peripheral neural feedback loops alters human corticomuscular coherence. Journal of Physiology 2005, 566(2), 625-639.
• Wetmore DZ, Baker SN. Post-spike distance-to-threshold trajectories of neurones in monkey motor cortex. Journal of Physiology 2004, 555(3), 831-850.
• Riddle CN, Baker MR, Baker SN. The effect of carbamazepine on human corticomuscular coherence. NeuroImage 2004, 22(1), 333-340.
• Baker SN, Curio G, Lemon RN. 600 Hz EEG oscillations are macroscopic markers for cortical spike bursts. Journal of Physiology 2003, 550, 529-534.
• Spinks RL, Baker SN, Jackson A, Khaw PT, Lemon RN. Problem of dural scarring in recording from awake, behaving monkeys: a solution using 5-flurouracil. Journal of Neurophysiology 2003, 90(2), 1324-1332.
• Baker SN, Pinches EM, Lemon RN. Synchronization in monkey motor cortex during a precision grip task. II Effect of oscillatory activity on corticospinal output. Journal of Neurophysiology 2003, 89(4), 1941-1953.
• Jackson A, Gee VJ, Baker SN, Lemon RN. Synchrony between Neurons with Similar Muscle Fields in Monkey Motor Cortex. Neuron 2003, 38(1), 115-125.
• Evans CMB, Baker SN. Task dependent inter-manual coupling of 10-Hz discontinuities during slow finger movements. European Journal of Neuroscience 2003, 18(2), 453-456.
• Kilner JM, Salenius S, Baker SN, Jackson A, Hari R, Lemon RN. Task dependent modulations of cortical oscillatory activity in human subjects during a bimanual precision grip task. NeuroImage 2003, 18(1), 67-73.
• Baker MR, Baker SN. The effect of diazepam on motor cortical oscillations and corticomuscular coherence studied in man. Journal of Physiology 2003, 546, 931-942.
• Kilner JM, Baker SN, Lemon RN. A novel algorithm to remove electrical cross-talk between surface EMG recordings and its application to the measurement of short-term synchronisation. Journal of Physiology 2002, 538, 919-930.
• Olivier E, Baker SN, Lemon RN. Comparison of direct and indirect measurement of the central motor conduction time in the monkey. Clinical Neurophysiology 2002, 113(4), 469-477.
• Musial P, Baker SN, Gerstein G, King E, Keating J. Signal-to-noise ratio improvement in multiple electrode recording. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 2002, 115(1), 29-43.
• Baker SN, Gerstein GL. Determination of response latency and its application to normalization of cross-correlation measures. Neural Computation 2001, 13(6), 1351-1377.
• Olivier E, Baker SN, Nakajima K, Brochier T, Lemon RN. Investigation into non-monosynaptic corticospinal excitation of macaque upper limb single motor units. Journal of Neurophysiology 2001, 86(4), 1573-1586.
• Pauluis Q, Baker SN, Olivier E. Precise burst synchrony in the superior colliculus of the awake cat during stimulus presentation. Journal of Neuroscience 2001, 21(2), 615-627.
• Baker SN, Spinks R, Jackson A, Lemon RN. Synchronization in Monkey Motor Cortex During a Precision Grip Task. I. Task-Dependent Modulation in Single-Unit Synchrony. Journal of Neurophysiology 2001, 85(2), 869-885.