F82 UCL Centre for Neurorehabilitation Monthly Seminar 15/01/2026Info Location Attendee Categories Contact More Info Event Information
Description'The Fragile Art of Skill: From Neural Mechanisms to Disorder and Repair’ Dr Anna Sadnicka, Clinical Academic Neurologist and Lead of the Computational Movement Disorders Lab, UCL Task-specific dystonia is a striking movement disorder in which a painless, selective loss of motor control emerges only during the performance of a highly practised skill. It affects writers, musicians, dancers, and athletes, individuals whose livelihoods depend on precision, and can abruptly end careers. Yet conventional disease models of dystonia struggle to explain why this failure appears only in the context of expertise. In this talk, I will outline a new perspective: that task-specific dystonia may arise from the maladaptive engagement of compensatory mechanisms within an otherwise healthy motor system. Drawing on emerging behavioural, computational, and clinical evidence, I will show how risk factors can be stratified and mapped onto disruptions in the representation and reproduction of skilled movement. Finally, I will discuss how this framework opens new therapeutic possibilities, with a particular focus on principled motor-retraining paradigms designed to restore the stability and flexibility of skilled action.
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Attendee CategoriesFree Event.
Additional ItemsContactFor all queries in regards to this Seminar please contact the following :-
PLEASE ONLY CONTACT THE ONLINE STORE DIRECTLY IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS WITH YOUR DEBIT/CREDIT CARD PAYMENT, FOR ALL OTHER QUERIES RELATING TO THIS SEMINAR, INCLUDING CANCELLATIONS THESE SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE CONTACT DETAILS ABOVE. More InformationDr Anna Sadnicka is a clinical academic neurologist and lead of the Computational Movement Disorders Lab at UCL. Her research combines motor control theory, behavioural neuroscience, and computational modelling to uncover the mechanisms of movement disorders, with a particular focus on dystonia. She leads an interdisciplinary team spanning the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit and UCL’s Department of Clinical and Movement Neuroscience, integrating high-resolution behavioural data with theory-driven analysis. As a Consultant Neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, she works within multidisciplinary teams to translate scientific insights into clinical practice. Her work is funded by the Wellcome Trust, Rosetrees Trust, National Brain Appeal and NIHR.
*In person event* The seminar will take place in person from 17:30-19:00 with no online attendance option. Please join us after the event for refreshments and networking. Recently Added | ||||||||||||||||
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