Research overview

Professor Johnson’s research lab — the Neuromodulation Research and Technology Laboratory — focuses on innovating neuromodulation technologies to improve the quality of life for people with neurological disorders including movement disorders and psychiatric disorders. The lab works to better understand how the nervous system responds and adapts to stimulation-based therapies from a combination of computational and experimental perspectives. These studies in turn provide a rationale to develop, evaluate, and translate new devices and new approaches for improving patient care.

Lab website

Education

• BS, Engineering Sciences, Harvard University, 2002
• MS, Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2003
• PhD, Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2007
• Post-doctoral Fellow, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, 2007-2009

Selected Publications

Rosing J, Doyle AM, Brinda A, Blumenfeld M, Lecy E, Spencer C, Dao J, Krieg J, Wilmerding LK, Sullivan D, Best S, Mohanty B, Wang J, Johnson LA, Vitek JL, and Johnson MD. (2023) “Classification of electrical-evoked potentials in the parkinsonian subthalamic nucleus region.” Nature Scientific Reports, 31(1):2685. 

Brinda A, Slopsema JP, Butler RD, Ikramuddin S, Beall T, Guo W, Chu C, Patriat R, Braun H, Goftari M, Palnitkar T, Aman J, Schrock L, Cooper SE, Matusumoto J, Vitek JL, Harel N, and Johnson MD. (2023) “Lateral cerebellothalamic tract activation underlies DBS therapy for Essential tremor.” Brain Stimulation, 16(2):445-455. 

Herbers C, Schroeder H, Lu C, Geng H, Zhang R, Mehregan J, Malakowsky K, Erdman A, Johnson MD*, and Cooper SE*. (2023) “Dopamine replacement therapy normalizes reactive step length to postural perturbations in Parkinson's disease.” Gait & Posture, 101:95-100. 

Hoglund BK, Zurn CA, Madden LR, Hoover C, Slopsema J, Balser D, Parr A, Samadani U, Johnson MD, Netoff TI, and Darrow D. (2022) “Mapping Spinal Cord Stimulation-Evoked Muscle Responses in Patients with Chronic Spinal Cord Injury.” Neuromodulation. 

Doyle A, Bauer D, Hendrix C, Yu Y, Nebeck SD, Fergus S, Krieg J, Wilmerding LK, Blumenfeld M, Lecy E, Spencer C, Luo Z, Sullivan D, Brackman K, Ross D, Best S, Verma A, Havel T, Wang J, Johnson L, Vitek JL, and Johnson MD. (2022) “Spatiotemporal scaling changes in gait in a progressive model of Parkinson’s disease.” Frontiers in Neurology, 13:1041934. 

Brinda A, Krieg J, Doyle AM, Alisch J, Wilmerding LK, Blumenfeld M, Dao J, and Johnson MD. (2021) “Longitudinal analysis of local field potential from deep brain stimulation leads in the subthalamic nucleus.” Journal of Neural Engineering, 18(4), 046050. 

Peña E, Mohammad T, Almohammed F, AlOtaibi T, Nahrir S, Khan S, Poghosyan V, Johnson MD, and Bajwa JA. (2021) “Individual magnetoencephalography response profiles to short-duration L-Dopa in Parkinson's disease.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 15:127. 

Johnson MD, Dweiri Y, Cornelius J, Strohl KP, Steffen A, Suurna M, Soose R, Coleman M, Rondoni J, Durand D, and Ni Q. (2021) “Model-based analysis of implanted hypoglossal nerve stimulation for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea.” Sleep, 44:S11-S19. 

Schrock LE, Patriat R, Goftari M, Kim J, Johnson MD, Harel N, Vitek JL (2021) “7T MRI and computational modeling supports a critical role of lead location in determining outcomes for deep brain stimulation: A Case Report.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 15:39. 

Slopsema JP, Uchenik M, Krieg J, Wilmerding L, Lehto LJ, Mangia S*, Johnson MD*, and Michaeli S*. (2021) “Orientation-selective and directional deep brain stimulation in swine assessed by functional MRI at 3T.” NeuroImage, 224:117357.