Harri Piitulainen
Contact search available for JYU staff members. ORCID link: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6866-6587 LinkedIn address: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harri-piitulainen-930621b/ |
General description
My education and work history
MSc in biomechanics, Univ. Jyväskylä, Finland, 2006
Pedagogical studies for teachers, Univ. Jyväskylä, 2009
PhD in biomechanics, Univ. Jyväskylä, 2006–2010
Post-doctoral Researcher, Aalto Univ., Finland, 2010–2013
Academy of Finland Post-doctoral Fellow, Aalto Univ., 2013–2016
Biomechanical expert, Motion Analysis Laboratory, Helsinki Univ. Hospital, Finland 2014–
Tittle of Docent in Motor Control, Univ. Jyväskylä, 2015–
Academy of Finland Research Fellow, Aalto Univ. 2016–2019 and Univ. Jyväskylä 2019–2021
Associate Professor in Neuro Research, Univ. Jyväskylä, 2019–2023
Visiting Professor, Aalto Univ. 2019–
Professor in Motor neuroscience, Univ. Jyväskylä, 2024–
I am in charge of the Functional Brain Lab (FBL) equipped with navigated TMS-EEG: https://www.jyu.fi/en/functional-brain-lab
I am leading the Sensorimotor Systems Neuroscience (MOTOR) research group: https://www.jyu.fi/en/research-groups/sensorimotor-systems-neuroscience
My recent collaborators
Aalto Univ., Finland | Univ. Helsinki, Finland | Univ. Eastern Finland | Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium | Polytechnic of Turin, Italy | Karolinska Institutet, Sweden | KU Leuven, Belgium | Harvard Medical School, USA
Active JYU affiliations
- Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, Professor
Previous, inactive or other affiliations
- Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences (University of Jyväskylä), Associate Professor, Ended
Research interests
My background is in biomechanics, neurophysiology, and neuroimaging. I have comprehensive interest towards the human sensorimotor system: from the brain to the muscles—the whole system. Recently, my focus has been on the human proprioception, its cortical processing and role in motor functions, aging and motor impairments (CP, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, etc.). I am currently running my “Sensorimotor Systems Neuroscience (MOTOR)” research group of about 10 members. We study the structure and function of the healthy and diseased human sensorimotor system using behavioural and neuroimaging measures.
My methods
I have strong expertise on biomechanical and neuroimaging methods, especially in MEG, EMG and TMS.
MEG, magnetoencephalography | EEG, electroencephalography | (f)MRI, magnetic-resonance imaging | DWI, Diffusion-weighted imaging | TMS, transcranial magnetic stimulation | wEEG, wireless EEG | wHD-EMG, wireless high-density electromyography | 3D-motion analysis | Plantar pressure recordings | Electrical stimulation | IMU, inertial measurement units | Static and dynamic balance | Somatosensory stimulators
My primary ongoing research projects
CP-project – We use wide variety of neuroimaging (MEG, fMRI) and behavioral measures to examine the role of proprioception in the sensorimotor integration of healthy and diseased children and adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP).
DCD-project – We use fMRI and behavioral tests to examine whether the embodied social cognition is linked to impaired motor and proprioceptive performance in children and adults with developmental coordination disorder (DCD).
Neuropathy-MEG – We use MEG and behavioral tests to examine how the proprioceptive system and related motor function are impaired in Type I diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
NIVA-BRAIN – We use MEG and behavioral tests to examine how the proprioceptive system and related motor function are impaired and recovered after ankle joint injury (Achilles tendon rupture or ankle fracture).
wEEG-EMG – We aim to develop and use a wireless EEG-EMG system to examine corticospinal coupling during naturalistic movements.
Gesturotopy – We use novel multi-locus TMS to map the cortical representations of learned meaningful motor actions and semantic hand gestures in humans that we call “gesturotopy”.
Fields of science
Personal keywords
Motor control; Sensorimotor system; The brain; Cortical mapping; Proprioception; Proprioceptive stimulation; Touch; Corticospinal coupling; Gait; Balance; Kinematics; Motor skill; Motor impairment; Cerebral palsy | Developmental coordination disorder | Stroke | Neuropathy | Parkinson’s disease | Spinal cord injury; Ankle injury; Aging; Children; Adaptation; Rehabilitation; Exercise; Training; Skill acquisition; Embodied and social cognition; Interoception; Body awareness; Muscle mechanics; Biomechanics; Neuroimaging; MEG; EEG; EMG; fMRI; TMS
Projects as Principal investigator
- Mapping function of hand proprioception in the human motor cortex
- Research Council of Finland
- Feasibility of objective proprioception and spasticity assessment device in children with CP
- Finnish Cultural Foundation
- Effect of ankle injury and diabetic neuropathy to cortical proprioceptive processing
- Finnish Cultural Foundation
- Proprioception in sensorimotor integration in health and disease (Academy Research Fellow research costs for 2-years in University of Jyväskylä)
- Research Council of Finland
- Proprioception in sensorimotor integration in health and disease
- Research Council of Finland
Projects as Team Member
- POSTURAL CONTROL IN THE AGING BRAIN: EFFECTS OF BALANCE TRAINING
- Walker, Simon
- Research Council of Finland
- POSTURAL CONTROL IN THE AGING BRAIN: EFFECTS OF BALANCE TRAINING
- Walker, Simon
- Research Council of Finland
- Physical activity and exercise for young people with cerebral palsy: understanding mechanisms and providing evidence of efficacy (EXECP)
- Juutinen, Taija
- Ministry of Education and Culture
- Integrating SENSorimotor disorders with ankle hyper-resistance in cerebral palsy
- Juutinen, Taija
- European Commission
Publications and other outputs
