SCoBIRC FACULTY

Richard D. Andreatta, Ph.D.

Associate Professor,
Dept. of Rehabilitation Sciences & Division of Communication Disorders

Ph.D. in Speech Physiology and Neuroscience, Indiana University, Bloomington (1999).
Post-doctoral training at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, The National Institutes of Health, Bethesda.

Research Interests

Dr. Andreatta is director of the Laboratory of Orofacial & Speech Sensorimotor Physiology at the University of Kentucky. His principal area of research focuses on how the CNS functionally gates somatosensory input (tactile and proprioceptive) and influences motor performance and perception in the lower face during static and dynamic skilled orofacial tasks. Other research interests include orofacial force dynamics, laryngeal neurophysiology, aerodynamic assessment of the vocal tract, and sensory psychophysics and physiology.

Current studies couple psychophysical and force control strategies to explore how the perceptual detection of somatosensation delivered to the orofacial area is altered during the performance of visually-guided and skilled oromotor behaviors. This paradigm provides a means for examining how the cognitive appreciation of somatosensory input is altered in the behavioral context of orofacial fine-force regulation. Also used in the lab are standard EMG techniques and stimulus-evoked reflex analyses to investigate the central modulation of lower facial motoneuron populations during skilled and dynamic activity in the orofacial neuromuscular system.

Select Publications

Andreatta, R.D. & Davidow J.H. (2006). Mechanical frequency and stimulation site related differences in vibrotactile detection capacity along the lip vermilion in young adults. Clinical Oral Investigations, 10(1), 17-22

Bothe, A.K., & Andreatta, R.D. (2004). Quantitative and Qualitative Research Paradigms: Thoughts on the Quantity and the Creativity of Stuttering Research. Advances in Speech Language Pathology, 6, 167-173

Andreatta, R.D., Davidow, J.H., & Scott, A.T. (2003). Low-level static lip force control does not alter vibrotactile detection thresholds in the human orofacial system. Experimental Brain Research, 151, 548-52

Andreatta, R.D., & Barlow, S.M. (2003). Force-related mechanosensory gating of perceptual detection thresholds in the human orofacial system. Experimental Brain Research, 149, 75-82

Andreatta, R.D., Mann, E.A., Poletto, C., & Ludlow, C.L. (2002). Mucosal Afferents Mediate Laryngeal Adductor Responses in the Cat. Journal of Applied Physiology, 93, 1622-1629

Andreatta, R.D., Barlow, S.M., Biswas, A., & Finan, D.S. (1996). Mechanosensory modulation of perioral neuronal groups during active force dynamics. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 39 (5), 1006-1017