Ryan Peters

Ryan Peters

PhD

Positions

Associate Professor

Faculty of Kinesiology

Full Member

Hotchkiss Brain Institute

Contact information

Phone number

Office: +1 403.220.7810

Location

Office : KNB2208

Background

Educational Background

Doctor of Philosophy Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, 2013

B.A. Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, 2008

Research

Areas of Research

Neuroscience - Motor Control
Activities

Dr. Ryan Peters is part of the Integrative Sensorimotor Neuroscience Laboratory and investigates the neural basis of human movement using a variety of physiological, behavioural and computational techniques in concert.

There are basic and applied science streams of research currently ongoing in the lab. Within the basic science stream, he studies complex interactions between sensory and motor neurons during voluntary movement. Dr. Peters specializes in microneurography: the only method for directly recording the activity of human somatosensory neurons (muscle spindles, Golgi tendon organs, skin and joint receptors). Currently, their focus is on the functional properties of the muscle spindle’s fusimotor system, which remains poorly understood, particularly in humans. 

In the applied research stream, the focus is on developing new vibration-emitting wearable technologies for remote neurological diagnostics and monitoring. Both healthy older adults and individuals suffering from neurological disorders (e.g., diabetic and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy) experience a decline in somatosensory function that is associated with impairments in manual dexterity and balance. Vibration-emitting wearable technologies offer a promising new alternative to standard clinical tests of neuropathy, which are both arduous for clinicians and not well controlled. Dr. Peters is the Chief Science Officer and co-founder for a new wearable device company, Vibratus Inc., that will bring these technologies to market for the first time.

Courses

Course number Course title Semester
KNES 365 LEC 01 01 Sensorimotor Neuroscience Fall 2021
KNES 464 LEC 01 01 Adv Topic Sensorimotor NEUR Winter 2022