Staff Profile

Address:

Henry Wellcome Building for Neuroecology
Newcastle University
Framlington Place
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE2 4HH 

Telephone: 0191-208-8547

Research Interests

Control of Voluntary Movements:

1)Bimanual Co-ordination - the role of different bilaterally organised brain areas – such as Supplementary Motor Area, Cerebellum, Reticular Formation & Spinal Cord.

2)Descending inputs to Motoneurones – While the primary motor cortex is essential for voluntary movements via the corticospinal tract, there is increasingly more evidence that other descending pathways (reticulospinal, vestibulospinal etc) that have been traditionally assigned to more automated aspects of movement may also play a role.

3)Axial, Proximal & Distal muscle control – muscles can be grouped into different categories in terms of their location relative to the body axis and there is strong evidence that these different ‘groups’ are controlled by different (but overlapping) systems in the brain.

Current Work

Please visit www.movementlab.org for further information.

• Articles

  • Maxwell DJ, Soteropoulos DS. The mammalian spinal commissural system: properties and functions. Journal of Neurophysiology 2020, 123(1), 4-21.
  • 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.
  • Khong KYW, Galán F, Soteropoulos DS. Rapid crossed responses in an intrinsic hand muscle during perturbed bimanual movements. Journal of Neurophysiology 2020, 123(2), 630-644.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Soteropoulos DS. Corticospinal gating during action preparation and movement in the primate motor cortex. Journal of Neurophysiology 2018, 119(4), 1538-1555.
  • 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.
  • Long J, Tazoe T, Soteropoulos DS, Perez MA. Interhemispheric Connectivity during Bimanual Isometric Force Generation. Journal of Neurophysiology 2016, 115(3), 1196-1207.
  • Baker SN, Zaaimi B, Fisher KM, Edgley SA, Soteropoulos DS. Pathways mediating functional recovery. Progress in Brain Research 2015, 218, 389-412.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Soteropoulos DS, Perez MA. Physiological changes underlying bilateral isometric arm voluntary contractions in healthy humans. Journal of Neurophysiology 2011, 105(4), 1594-1602.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Soteropoulos DS, Baker SN. Quantifying Neural Coding of Event Timing. Journal of Neurophysiology 2009, 101(1), 402-417.
  • 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.
  • Soteropoulos D, Baker S. Bilateral representation in the deep cerebellar nuclei. Journal of Physiology 2008, 586(4), 1117-1136.
  • 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.
  • Soteropoulos DS, Baker SN. Cortico-cerebellar coherence during a precision grip task in the monkey. Journal of Neurophysiology 2006, 95(2), 1194-1206.

• Reviews

  • Astin R, Banerjee A, Baker MR, Dani M, Ford E, Hull JH, Lim PB, McNarry M, Morten K, O'Sullivan O, Pretorius E, Raman B, Soteropoulos DS, Taquet M, Hall CN. Long COVID: mechanisms, risk factors and recovery. Experimental Physiology 2023, 108(1), 12-27.
  • Baker SN, Zaaimi B, Fisher KM, Edgley SA, Soteropoulos DS. Pathways mediating functional recovery. Progress in Brain Research 2015, 218, 389-412.
  • Fisher KM, Soteropoulos DS, Witham CL. The Motor Cortex and Descending Control of Movement. Advances in Clinical Neuroscience and Rehabilitation 2012, 11(6), 11-13.