Robert W. Sikes

Title:  Associate Professor

Department:  Department of Physical Therapy

School/Center:  School of Health Professions

Office Location:  301 H Robinson Hall *Moving to 208 RB in 2007

Phone:  617-373-5195

Fax:  617-373-3161

Email:  r.sikes@neu.edu

Education:  Postdoctoral Fellow, Boston University

PhD, University of Texas

BS, University of South Alabama

Certification: 

Specializations:  Neurophysiology; extracellular recording of cortical and subcortical neuron activity

Neuroanatomy; cytoarchitecture of cerebral cortex and  thalamus, fiber tract tracing

Teaching; neuroscience, human neuroanatomy, human gross anatomy, research and statist

Research:  Neurophysiology of the cingulate cortex; in particular, the role of cingulate cortex in pain sensation. 

Cingulate cortex is an important region of the pain system which provides the emotional, affective component of pain sensation � the unpleasantness of pain. My research has used a combination of neurophysiological and neuroanatomical techniques to identify the distribution of nociceptive neurons within the subareas of cingulate cortex and to define their physiological properties.  We have investigated pathways through which pain information is transmitted and are currently contrasting the effects of somatic and visceral noxious stimulation on cingulate neuron activity.

Additional areas of interest: Plasticity of cortex, alterations of receptive fields following loss of sensory input; dopamine systems, neurophysiology and anatomy of striatal nuclei.

Public Service: 

Courses: 

Publications:  Sikes RW

The physiology and psychology of pain. In Chad Starkey (Ed.) Therapeutic Modalities 3rd Edition 2004 Philadelphia, PA, F.A. Davis

Newton JR, Sikes RW, Skavenski AA.

Cross-modal plasticity after monocular enucleation of the adult rabbit. Exp Brain Res. 2002 Jun;144(4):423-9.

Waszczak BL, Martin L, Boucher N, Zahr N, Sikes RW, Stellar JR.

 Electrophysiological and behavioral output of the rat basal ganglia after intrastriatal infusion of d-amphetamine: lack of support for the basal ganglia model. Brain Res. 2001 Nov 30;920(1-2):170-82.

Vogt BA, Sikes RW.

 The medial pain system, cingulate cortex, and parallel processing of nociceptive information. Prog Brain Res. 2000;122:223-35.

Sikes RW, Vogt BA.

 Nociceptive neurons in area 24 of rabbit cingulate cortex. J Neurophysiol. 1992 Nov;68(5):1720-32.

Vogt LJ, Vogt BA, Sikes RW.

 Limbic thalamus in rabbit: architecture, projections to cingulate cortex and distribution of muscarinic acetylcholine, GABAA, and opioid receptors. J Comp Neurol. 1992 May 8;319(2):205-17.

Vogt BA, Sikes RW.

 Lateral magnocellular thalamic nucleus in rabbits: architecture and projections

to cingulate cortex. J Comp Neurol. 1990 Sep 1;299(1):64-74.

Sikes RW, Vogt BA, Swadlow HA.

 Neuronal responses in rabbit cingulate cortex linked to quick-phase eye

movements during nystagmus. J Neurophysiol. 1988 Mar;59(3):922-36.

Sikes RW, Vogt BA.

Afferent connections of anterior thalamus in rats: sources and association with muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. J Comp Neurol. 1987 Feb 22;256(4):538-51.

Vogt BA, Sikes RW, Swadlow HA, Weyand TG.

Rabbit cingulate cortex: cytoarchitecture, physiological border with visual cortex, and afferent cortical connections of visual, motor, postsubicular, and intracingulate origin. J Comp Neurol. 1986 Jun 1;248(1):74-94.

Web page:

Robert Sikes
� 2007 Northeastern University � 360 Huntington Ave., Boston, Massachusetts 02115 � 617.373.2000