Charlotte Stagg

MRCP DPhil

Professor of Human Neurophysiology

Wellcome Trust / Royal Society Sir Henry Dale Fellow
Fellow by Special Election, St Edmund Hall
Senior Research Fellow, Department of Psychiatry
Honorary Research Associate, UCL

Physiological mechanisms of motor learning and recovery

I head the Physiological Neuroimaging Group.

My primary research interest is in understanding how the brain adapts to new challenges, focusing in particular in the physiological processes underlying the learning of new motor skills and in the recovery of motor function after stroke.

We take a multimodal approach to answer these questions, using advanced MR approaches, MEG, non-invasive brain stimulation and pharmacological agents. Our multidisciplinary team works on a wide variety of projects, with the ultimate aim of developing novel therapies to improve function in a range of neurological disorders.

We welcome enquires from potential DPhil (PhD) students and Postdoctoral Fellows - please email me.

For more details of our group's research please see our website.

Key publications

A single, clinically relevant dose of the GABAB agonist baclofen impairs visuomotor learning.
Journal article

Johnstone A. et al, (2021), J Physiol, 599, 307 - 322
β-Oscillations Reflect Recovery of the Paretic Upper Limb in Subacute Stroke.
Journal article

Tang C-W. et al, (2020), Neurorehabil Neural Repair, 34, 450 - 462
The dynamics of cortical GABA in human motor learning.
Journal article

Kolasinski J. et al, (2019), J Physiol, 597, 271 - 282
A Mechanistic Link from GABA to Cortical Architecture and Perception.
Journal article

Kolasinski J. et al, (2017), Curr Biol, 27, 1685 - 1691.e3
Ipsilesional anodal tDCS enhances the functional benefits of rehabilitation in patients after stroke.
Journal article

Allman C. et al, (2016), Sci Transl Med, 8

Recent publications

A checklist for assessing the methodological quality of concurrent tES-fMRI studies (ContES checklist): a consensus study and statement.
Journal article

Ekhtiari H. et al, (2022), Nat Protoc
A macroscopic link between interhemispheric tract myelination and cortico-cortical interactions during action reprogramming
Lazari A. et al, (2021)
Increasing human motor skill acquisition by driving theta-gamma coupling.
Journal article

Akkad H. et al, (2021), Elife, 10
Fatigue induces behavioural improvements in the unfatigued hand via altered functional connectivity and neurochemicals in cortical motor areas
Andrushko JW. et al, (2021)
Reassessing associations between white matter and behaviour with multimodal microstructural imaging.
Journal article

Lazari A. et al, (2021), Cortex, 145, 187 - 200
Brain stimulation boosts perceptual learning by altering sensory GABAergic plasticity and functional connectivity
Journal article

Karlaftis VM. et al, (2021)
A range of pulses commonly used for human transcranial ultrasound stimulation are clearly audible
Journal article

Johnstone A. et al, (2021), Brain Stimulation, 14, 1353 - 1355
An In-vivo 1H-MRS short-echo time technique at 7T: Quantification of metabolites in chronic multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica brain lesions and normal appearing brain tissue.
Journal article

Tackley G. et al, (2021), Neuroimage, 238
Less practice makes just as perfect
Journal article

Stagg CJ., (2021), Trends in Cognitive Sciences
A single, clinically relevant dose of the GABAB agonist baclofen impairs visuomotor learning.
Journal article

Johnstone A. et al, (2021), J Physiol, 599, 307 - 322

More publications