Professor
Year Started at JMU: 1998
clelancl@jmu.edu
Contact Info
Research Description
The goal of our research is to understand the strategies by which spatial sensory information is used by the CNS to plan movement. We attack the problem using simple models systems – the nociceptive withdrawal response in the rat and escape response in spiders. Currently we use diverse techniques – behavioral, electrophysiological, surgical, computational and computer simulations. Our results will help us to understand the strategies by which animals use sensory information to plan movements and may lead to improvements in the treatment of movement disorders.
Courses
- Neurobiology (BIO 445/550)
- Experimental Neurobiology (446/546)
- Trelawny Seminar (201)
Education
- PhD in Neuroscience, 1985, Northwestern University
- BA in Physics, 1978, Amherst College
Select Publications
- Michaelsen AN and Cleland CL (2019) Kinematic determinants of scoring success in the fencing flick: Logistic and linear multiple regression analysis. PLOS One, 14(9): e0222075. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222075.
- Bence CM and Cleland CL (2019) The nociceptive withdrawal response of the tail in spinalized rat employs a hybrid categorical-continuous spatial mapping strategy. Experimental Brain Research, 237:551-1561, DOI: 10.1007/s00221-019-05527-w.
- Jiangda, O, and Cleland, CL (2019) Escape strategies of the Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa) in response to looming and localized heat stimuli, Journal of Insect Behavior, DOI: 10.1007/s10905-019-09737-6.
Biology Department
