Terence Sanger

Administrative Appointments

• Board Member, Neural Control of Movement Society (2006 - 2010)
• co-Director, Stanford child neurology NSADA program (2004 - 2009)
• Scientific Advisory Board, Dystonia Medical Research Foundation (2004 - present)
• Scientific Advisory Board, Bright Foundation (2003 - present)
• Principal Investigator, Childhood Motor Study Group (2001 - present)
View All 6administrative appointments of Terence Sanger

Honors and Awards

• Teaching award, Stanford BioDesign program (2004)
• Leaves of Hope Award, United Cerebral Palsy (2003)
• Millenium Award, Dystonia Medical Research Foundation (2000)

Professional Education

Web Site Links

• http://www.stanford.edu/~sanger

Research Interests

My research is directed toward understanding the causes and treatments of movement disorders in children, including dystonia, athetosis, chorea, ataxia, and myoclonus. My clinical laboratory at Stanford includes equipment for quantifying arm movement, measuring the electrical activity of multiple muscles, and providing real-time video and tactile feedback of movement or muscle activity. My ongoing theoretical research investigates the use of computational neural networks to understand disorders of the basal ganglia.


INFORMATION ON RESEARCH IN THE SANGER PEDIATRIC MOVEMENT DISORDERS LABORATORY AT STANFORD:

In January of 2001, the Stanford University School of Medicine established California’s only research laboratory to study movement disorders in children. This laboratory is dedicated to discovering the cause and best treatments for childhood movement disorders.

WHAT ARE MOVEMENT DISORDERS?

Movement disorders are a disabling and frustrating group of conditions that affect a child’s ability to move as he or she wishes. By definition, these are disorders not of weakness, but rather of the control of movement, so that incorrect signals are sent from the brain to the muscles. As a result, the muscles may contract in ways that are not intended and which interfere with the ability to make voluntary movements.

WHAT TYPES OF MOVEMENT DISORDERS OCCUR IN CHILDREN?

Ataxia is the inability to make smooth coordinated movements.

Bradykinesia refers to an extreme slowness and stiffness of movement.

With chorea, a child has continual random movements of the arms or legs.

Dystonia refers to abnormal muscle contractions that produce a stiff, twisted, or uncontrollable arm or leg.

Myoclonus is a condition of very rapid, and brief shock-like jerks.

Tics are repetitive stereotyped movements which the child often feels an unstoppable need to make.

Tremor is a rhythmic back-and-forth...

Clinical Trials

• OPTIMIZING ASSISTED COMMUNICATION DEVICES FOR CHILDREN WITH MOTOR IMPAIRMENTS USING A MODEL OF INFORMATION RATE AND CHANNEL CAPACITY Recruiting
• Theta-burst Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Recruiting
• quantification of upper extremity hypertonia Recruiting

Publications

• Increasing Viscosity and Inertia Using a Robotically Controlled Pen Improves Handwriting in Children. Ben-Pazi H, Ishihara A, Kukke S, Sanger TD. J Child Neurol. 2009
• Hypertonia in childhood secondary dystonia due to cerebral palsy is associated with reflex muscle activation. van Doornik J, Kukke S, Sanger TD. Mov Disord. 2009; 24 (7): 965-71
• Force variability during isometric biceps contraction in children with secondary dystonia due to cerebral palsy. Chu WT, Sanger TD. Mov Disord. 2009; 24 (9): 1299-305
• Use of surface electromyography (EMG) in the diagnosis of childhood hypertonia: a pilot study. Sanger TD, J Child Neurol. 2008; 23 (6): 644-8
• Oral baclofen increases maximal voluntary neuromuscular activation of ankle plantar flexors in children with spasticity due to cerebral palsy. van Doornik J, Kukke S, McGill K, Rose J, Sherman-Levine S, Sanger TD. J Child Neurol. 2008; 23 (6): 635-9