Erika Raven is earning her PhD in neuroscience from Georgetown University and the NIH.

Jae Lee is an assistant professor at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, University of Miami School of Medicine.

Joanna Yau is a postdoctoral research associate at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

Injuries to areas of the brain responsible for motor function can have devastating and permanent effects on motor abilities. For example, after injury to motor areas on one side of the brain due to stroke or traumatic brain injury, use of the hand and digits on the opposite side of the body to grasp and manipulate small objects is often severely impaired. With these impairments, individuals have difficulty performing activities of daily living, such as dressing, eating, and maintaining personal hygiene. Employment may also be affected when physical labor or fine motor control skills such as typing, writing, or manipulating a computer mouse are necessary. However, animal studies have shown the brain can respond to injuries by making new connections from uninjured parts of the brain to neurons involved in controlling muscles that move the impaired hand and digits.

Sal Baker is an assistant professor of physiology and cell biology at the University of Nevada, Reno.