Dr. Carolyn Patten PhD, PT, FAPTA

She directs the UC Davis Biomechanics, Rehabilitation, and Integrative Neuroscience (BRaIN) Lab is a Co-Director of the UC Davis Center for Neuroengineering and Medicine. In addition to her primary faculty role at UC Davis School of Medicine, Dr. Patten is a senior investigator with the VA Northern California Health Care System. She holds Research Career Scientist status.

Research Focus

Dr. Patten's research focuses on understanding the neural basis of human movement, investigating human motor control, and learning from a perspective of neuromechanics. Her laboratory has developed techniques sensitive to motor impairment using concurrent behavioral and neurophysiological methods. The lab's current work emphasizes identifying biomarkers to predict motor recovery following stroke and the critical factors contributing to rehabilitation efficacy. To achieve these objectives, the BRaIN lab researches the neural mechanisms and biomechanical effects of CNS pathologies causing motor dysfunction, including novel ways to induce neuroplasticity and motor recovery and individual variations in the course of motor recovery and responses to therapeutic interventions.
Healthy Aging in a Digital World - a UC Davis Big Idea, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Veterans Affairs (Rehabilitation R&D), and the University of California CITRIS support Dr. Patten's study (Center for IT Research in the Interest of Society). She has consistently held federal, peer-reviewed project funding as Principal Investigator since receiving her first Career Development Award from VA Rehabilitation R&D in 1998.