Mindy F. Levin
Position:
Professor; Chercheur régulier, C.R.I.R. (Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire en Réadaptation) du Montréal métropolitain www.crir.ca
Degree(s):
BSc (Phys Ther), MSc (Clincal Sciences) Université de Montréal; PhD (Physiology); post-doc (Neurophysiology) Université de Montréal
Biography:
Prof. Levin trained as a physiotherapist at McGill University (B.Sc. 1976) and practiced for several years at the Rehabilitation Institute of Montreal where she specialized in neurological rehabilitation. She obtained an M.Sc. degree in Clinical Sciences from the University of Montreal in 1985 followed by a Ph.D. in Physiology from McGill University in 1990 under the directorship of Prof. Christina Hui-Chan. She completed an additional two years of post-doctoral training in neurophysiology at the University of Montreal under the co-directorship of Profs. Yves Lamarre and Anatol G. Feldman. From 1992 to 2004, Prof. Levin held positions as researcher and professor in the School of Physiotherapy at the University of Montreal. She taught courses at the undergraduate and graduate level mainly in the areas of electrotherapy and neurology.
Prof. Levin was Scientific Director of the Research Centre of the Rehabilitation Institute of Montreal from 1997 until November 2001. She was a Research Scholar of the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec from 1992 until 2004 and was Director of the Physical Therapy Program in the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy at McGill University from July 2004 to July 2008. She holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Arm Motor Recovery and Rehabilitation (2005-2019).
Areas of expertise:
motor control, neuroplasticity, motor learning, stroke, cerebral palsy, kinematics, electromyography
Selected publications:
Tomita* A, Mullick* AA and Levin MF. (2018). Reduced kinematic redundancy and motor equivalence during whole-body reaching in individuals with chronic stroke. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. 32(2):175-86. doi:10.1177/1545968318760725.
Subramanian* S, Feldman AG and Levin MF. (2018). Spasticity may obscure motor learning ability after stroke. Journal of Neurophysiology. 119(1):5-20.doi:10.1152/jn.00362.2017.
Turpin* N, Feldman AG and Levin MF. (2017). Stretch-reflex threshold modulation during active elbow movements in post-stroke survivors with spasticity.Clinical Neurophysiology. 128(10):1891-97. doi:10.1016/j.clinph.2017.07.411.
Demers* M and Levin MF. (2017). Do activity outcome measures commonly used in neurological practice assess upper limb movement quality? Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. 31(7):623-37. doi:10.1177/1545968317714576.
Banina* MC, Mullick* AA, McFadyen BJ and Levin MF. (2017) Upper limb obstacle avoidance behaviour in individuals with chronic stroke. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. 31(2):133-46. doi: 10.1177/1545968316662527.
Turpin* NA, Levin MF and Feldman AG. (2016). Implicit learning and generalization of stretch response modulation in humans. Journal of Neurophysiology.115:3186-94. doi:10.1152/jn.01143.2015
Feldman AG, Krasovsky* T, Banina* M, Lamontagne A, and Levin MF. (2011). Changes in the referent body location and configuration may underlie human gait, as confirmed by findings of multi-muscle activity minimizations and phase resetting. Experimental Brain Research. 210(1):91-115.
Krasovsky* T and Levin MF. (2010). Towards a better understanding of coordination in healthy and post-stroke gait. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. 24(3):213-24.
Calota* A and Levin MF. (2009). Tonic stretch reflex threshold as a measure of spasticity: implications for clinical practice. Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation. 16(3):177-88.
Levin MF, Kleim JA and Wolf SL. (2009). Point of View: Enhancing interdisciplinary perspectives: What do motor “recovery” and “compensation” mean in patients following stroke? Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. 23(4):313-9.
Cirstea* MC, Ptito A and Levin MF. (2006). Feedback and cognition in arm motor skill re-acquisition after stroke. Stroke. 37:1237-42.
Michaelsen* SM, Dannenbaum R and Levin MF. (2006). Task-specific training with trunk restraint on arm recovery in stroke. Randomized control trial. Stroke. 37(1):186-92.