.gif "Visit the JMU Homepage")
Christy L. Ludlow, Ph.D.
Professor
Office: HHS 1141
Phone: 568-3876
Email: ludlowcx@jmu.edu
Research and Teaching Areas
Teaching
- Voice and Voice Disorders
- Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology
- Ph.D. preparation for a research career
Research
- Manipulating neural control for dysphagia rehabilitation
- Neural bases of sensori-motor change for voice and speech control
Research Laboratory
Neural Bases of Communication and Swallowing
Current and Ongoing Research Projects
- Role of sensory feedback in neural control for voice, speech and swallowing
- Use of sensory enhancement during motor training for recovery from dysphagia
- Diagnosis and assessment of spasmodic dysphonia
Publications (last five years)
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles of Original Research
Poletto CJ, Verdun LP, Strominger S, Ludlow CL. Correspondence between laryngeal vocal fold movement and muscle activity during speech and non-speech gestures, J. of Applied Physiology 97:858-866, 2004.
Ambalavanar R, Tanaka Y, Selbie WS, and Ludlow CL. Neuronal excitation in the medulla oblongata during selective elicitation of the laryngeal adductor response, Journal of Neurophysiology , 92: 2920-2932, 2004.
Kearney PR, Poletto CJ, Mann EA, and Ludlow CL. Suppression of thyroarytenoid muscle responses during repeated air pressure stimulation of the laryngeal mucosa in awake humans. Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology 114:264-270, 2005
Schulz GM, Varga M, Jeffries K, Ludlow CL, Braun AR. Functional neuroanatomy of human vocalization: An H2 15O PET study. Cerebral Cortex, 2005 Dec;15(12):1835-1847.
Loucks TMJ, Poletto CJ, Saxon KG & Ludlow CL. Laryngeal muscle responses to mechanical displacement of the thyroid cartilage in humans. Journal of Applied Physiology, 99:922-930, 2005.
Puls I, Oh S, Sumner CJ, Wallace KE, Floeter MK, Mann EA, Kennedy WR, Wendelschafer-Crabb G, Vortmeyer A, Powers R, Finnegan K, Holzbaur ELF, Fischbeck KH and Ludlow CL. Distal spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy with vocal fold paralysis due to dynactin mutation. Annals of Neurology, 57: 687-694, 2005..
Burnett TA, Mann EA, Stoklosa JB, and Ludlow CL. Self-triggered functional electrical stimulation during swallowing. J Neurophysiol. 2005 Dec;94(6):4011-8.
Kenney MK, Barac-Cikoja B, Finnegan K, Jeffries N, Ludlow CL. Speech perception and short term memory deficits in persistent developmental speech disorder. Brain and Language, 2006 Feb;96(2):178-90.
Ali SO, Guillemin AD, Tomassen M, Schulz GM, Fromm SJ, Hosey LA, Varga M, Ludlow CL, Braun AR. CNS Plasticity Induced by Botulinum Toxin Treatment in Spasmodic Dysphonia: An H215O-PET Study Journal of Speech-Language-Hearing Research, 2006 Oct. 49: 1127-1146.
Humbert IA, Poletto CJ, Saxon KG, Kearney PR, Crujido L., Wright-Harp W., Payne J., Jeffries N., Sonies BC., Ludlow CL. The effect of surface stimulation on hyolaryngeal movement in normal individuals at rest and during swallowing. Journal of Applied Physiology, 2006, Dec., 101: 1657-1663.
Ludlow CL, Humbert I, Saxon KG, Poletto CJ, Sonies B, Crujido L. Effects of surface electrical stimulation both at rest and during swallowing in chronic pharyngeal dysphagia, Dysphagia, 2007,22: 1-10.
Loucks TMJ, Poletto CJ, Simonyan K, Reynolds CL, Ludlow CL. Human Brain Activation during Phonation and Exhalation: Common Volitional Control for Two Upper Airway Functions. NeuroImage, 2007 May 15;36(1):131-43.
Simonyan K, Saad ZS, Loucks TM, Poletto CJ, Ludlow CL. Functional neuroanatomy of human voluntary cough and sniff production. NeuroImage 2007 Aug 15;37(2):401-9.
Henriquez V., Schulz GM, Bielamowicz S, Ludlow CL. Laryngeal reflex responses are not modulated during human voice and respiratory tasks. Journal of Physiology (London), 2007 Dec 15;585 (Pt 3):779-89. Epub 2007 Oct 25.
Humbert IA, Poletto CJ, Saxon KG, Kearney KR, Ludlow CL. The effect of surface electrical stimulation in vocal fold position. Laryngoscope, 2008 Jan;118(1):14-9.
Ludlow CL, Hoit J, Kent R, Ramig LO, Shrivastav R, Strand E, Yorkston K, Sapienza C. Translating principles of neural plasticity into research on speech motor control recovery and rehabilitation. Journal of Speech-Language-Hearing Research, 2008 Feb;51(1):S240-58..
Chang S-E, Erickson KI, Ambrose NG, Hasegawa-Johnson MA, Ludlow CL. Brain anatomy differences in childhood stuttering. NeuroImage , 2008 Feb 1;39(3):1333-44. Epub 2007 Oct 13.
Simonyan K., Tovar-Moll F., Ostuni J, Hallett M, Kalasinsky VF, Lewin-Smith MR, Rushing EJ, Vortmeyer AO, Ludlow CL. Focal white matter changes in spasmodic dysphonia: a combined DTI and neuropathological study. Brain, 2008 Feb;131(Pt 2):447-59. Epub 2007 Dec 14.
Lowell SY, Poletto CJ, Knorr-Chung, BR, Reynolds RC, Simonyan K, and Ludlow CL. Sensory stimulation activates both motor and sensory components of the swallowing system. Neuroimage, 2008 Aug 1;42(1):285-95.
Simpson DM, Blitzer A, Brashear A, Comella C, Dubinsky R, Hallett M, Jankovic J, Karp B, Ludlow CL, Miyasaki JM, Naumann M, So Y. Assessment: Botulinum neurotoxin for the treatment of movement disorders (an evidence-based review): Report of the Therapeutics and Technology Assessment Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. Neurology. 2008 May 6;70(19):1699-706.
Ludlow CL, Adler CH, Berke GS, Bielamowicz SA, Blitzer SB, Bressman SB, Hallett M, Jinnah HA, Juergens U, Perlmutter JS, Sapienza C. Research priorities in spasmodic dysphonia. Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, 2008 Oct;139(4):495-505.
*Blitzer AB, Crumley RL, Dailey SH, Ford CN, Floeter MK, Hillel AD, Hoffman HT, Ludlow CL, Merati A, Munin MC, Robinson LR, Rosen C, Saxon KG, Sulica L, Thibeault SL, Titze I, Woo P, Woodson GE. Recommendations of the Neurolaryngology Study Group on Laryngeal Electromyography. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2009 Jun;140(6):782-793. Epub 2009 Apr 9..*(Authors in alphabetical order)
Chang S-E, Kenney M.K., Loucks T.M.J., Ludlow C.L. Brain activation abnormalities during speech and non-speech in stuttering speakers, Neuroimage. 2009 May 15;46(1):201-12. Epub 2009 Feb 11
Chang S-E., Kenney M.K., Loucks T.M.J., Poletto C.J., Ludlow C.L. Common neural substrates support speech and non-speech vocal tract gestures, Neuroimage. 2009 Aug 1;47(1):314-25. Epub 2009 Mar 25.
Chang S-E, Synnestvedt A, Ostuni J, Ludlow CL. Similarities in speech and white matter characteristics in idiopathic developmental stuttering and adult-onset stuttering, Journal of Neurolinguistics, in press.
Feng X, Henriquez VM, Walters JR, Ludlow CL. Effects of dopamine D1 and D2 receptor antagonists on laryngeal neurophysiology in the rat, Journal of Neurophysiology, 2009, in press.
Invited Reviews Published in Journals and Books
Sataloff RT, Mandel S, Mann EA, and Ludlow CL. Practice parameter: Laryngeal electromyography (an evidence-based review). Muscle and Nerve, 28:767-772, 2003. reprinted in Otolaryngology-head and neck Surgery 130: 770-779, 2004 and Journal of Voice 18: 261-274, 2004.
Ludlow, CL. Recent advances in laryngeal sensori-motor control for voice, speech and swallowing. Current Opinion in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, 12:160-165, 2004.
Ludlow CL. Central nervous system control of the laryngeal muscles in humans. Respiratory Physiology and Neurobiology , 147: 205-222, 2005.
Ludlow CL. Current issues on the neuropharmacology of stuttering. In Stuttering Research and Practice: Contemporary Issues and Approaches edited by Bernstein-Ratner N and Tetnowski J. LEA Publishers, 2006.
Kearney P, Ludlow, CL. and Mann, EA. Management of spasmodic dysphonia. In J. Rubin, RT. Sataloff and GS. Korovin, Diagnosis and Treatment of Voice Disorders, 3rd Edition, Singular Publishing Group, Inc., 2006.
Ludlow CL. Laryngeal dystonia:. In Clinical Diagnosis and Management of Dystonia, edited by Warner WT and Bressman, S. Martin Dunitz, London England, 2007
Simonyan K and Ludlow, CL. La production vocale. In p. Auzou, V. Rolland-Monnoury, S. Pinto and C Ozsancak, Les Dysarthries, Solal Marseille, France, 2007.
Ludlow CL. Physiology of airway regulation. In Merati A., and Bielamowicz, S (Eds.,) Textbook of Laryngology, Plural Publishing, San Diego, CA, 2007
Saxon KG, Ludlow CL. Pharmaceutical Interventions for Stuttering: A Critical Review. In Conture E. and Curlee R., Eds., Stuttering and Related Disorders of Fluency, Third Edition, Thieme, New York, N.Y., 2007.
Ludlow CL, Loucks TMJ, Simonyan K, and Lowell S. Brain imaging of voice, swallowing and other upper airway functions. In Ingham R., Neuroscience Research in Communication Disorders, Plural Publishing, San Diego, CA, 2007
Ludlow C.L. Electrical stimulation and dysphagia: What we do and don’t know. ASHA Leader 13 (3), pp 8-11, 2008
Ludlow C.L. Treatment for spasmodic dysphonia: limitation of current approaches, Curr Opin Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2009 Jun;17(3):160-5.
Ludlow C.L. Central nervous system control for human voice production. Communicative Disorders Review, in press, 2009
Chang S-E. and Ludlow CL. Brain imaging in children. In B. Maassen, P HHM van Lieshout, Speech Motor Control: New Directions in Basic and Applied Research, Oxford University press, Oxford , England, in press, 2009
Ludlow CL and Bielamowicz SA. Neurogenic disorders of the larynx. In J.B Snow, Wackym, PA (Eds.) Ballenger’s Otorhinolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery Edition 17, BC Decker, Inc. People’s Medical Publishing House, Shelton, CT, 2009.
International and National Conference Presentations (Last 5 years)
Keith Saxon , Christopher Poletto, Eric Mann, Pamela Kearney, and Christy Ludlow “Influences of Afferent Blockade on Laryngeal Muscle Activity, “ at the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery (AAOHNS) annual meeting in September 2004
Christy L. Ludlow, Ianessa Humbert, Keith G. Saxon, Barbara C. Sonies, Lisa Crujido, “Effects of Surface Electrical Stimulation both at Rest and During Swallowing in Chronic Pharyngeal Dysphagia” , the Dysphagia Research Society in Montreal Canada, October, 2004
Kelly Buckholdt, Kevin Im, Eric A. Mann, Ranjinidevi Ambalavanar, Christy L. Ludlow.“Neuronal Activation And Pro-Inflammatory Cytokine Expression In The Brainstem Following Lipopolysaccharide Induced Laryngeal Inflammation,” Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, October 2004
Loucks TM, Poletto CJ, Simonyan K, Ludlow CL. A comparison of the neural correlates of vocalization and exhalation : an event-related fMRI study. Presentation at the Human Brain Mapping Conference June 2005, Toronto, Canada
Ludlow CL, Humbert IJ, Poletto CJ, Saxon KG,Kearney PR, Crujido L., Sonies B. “The use of coordination training for the onset of intramuscular stimulation in dysphagia.” 10th Annual Conference of the International FES Society, July 2005, Montreal Canada.
Kearney PR, Poletto CJ, Finnegan KA, Crujido LR and Ludlow CL. “The effect of topical anesthesia on spasmodic dysphonia: A double blind study.” Presented at the Annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery in Los Angeles, September 2005.
Simonyan K, Vortmeyer A, Ludlow CL “,"A study of the brain stem in spasmodic dysphonia. " Presented at the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery (AAOHNS) annual meeting in Los Angeles, September 2004
Simonyan K, Buckholdt K, Ludlow CL. Brainstem immunoreactivity response to chronic laryngeal inflammation in the rat. Society for Neuroscience, Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., 2005.
Crujido L, Humbert I, Sonies B, Ludlow CL. “Swallowing Safety Scale: A new assessment tool”. Presented at the 2005 Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, San Diego, November 2005.
Humbert I, Poletto CJ, Crujido L, Sonies B, Harris O, Payne J, Wright-Harp W, Ludlow CL. “The effects of surface electrical stimulation in healthy controls.” Presented at the 2005 Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, San Diego, November 2005.
Ludlow CL, Humbert I, Saxon KG, Poletto CJ, Sonies BC, Kearney PR, &. Crujido L. The Effects of Intramuscular Stimulation on Swallowing Safety in Chronic Pharyngeal Dysphagia, presented at the Dysphagia Research Society, April 2006, Scottsdale, AZ
Poletto CJ, Saxon KG, Ludlow CL. The effects of hyolaryngeal muscle stimulation on upper esophageal sphincter pressure, presented at the Dysphagia Research Society, April 2006, Scottsdale, AZ
Humbert IA, Poletto CJ, Saxon KG, Kearney PR, Crujido L., Wright-Harp W., Payne J., Jeffries N., Sonies BC., Ludlow CL. The effect of surface stimulation on hyolaryngeal movement in normal individuals at rest and during swallowing, presented at the Dysphagia Research Society, April 2006, Scottsdale, AZ
Loucks TMJ, Simonyan K, Poletto CJ & Ludlow CL. Neural control of volitional phonation. Presented at the 5th International Conference on Speech Motor Control, Nijmegan, The Netherlands.
Simonyan KB, Saad ZS, Loucks TMJ, Poletto CJ, Ludlow CL. Brain activation during complex respiratory tasks. 12th Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Florence, Italy, June 11-15, 2006
Simonyan KB, Tovar-Moll F, Ostuni J, Buckholdt K, Hattori N, Hallett M, Vortmeyer A, Ludlow CL. Selective white matter differences in Spasmodic Dysphonia: a DTI Study. Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, October 2006, Atlanta GA
Chang S-E, Erickson K, Ambrose N Hasegawa-Johnson M, Ludlow CL. Deficient white matter development in left hemisphere speech-language regions in children who stutter. Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, October 2006, Atlanta GA
Ludlow CL, Sonies B, Humbert I, Crujido L, Martin S and Lowell S. Validity and reliability of the Swallowing Safety Scale presented at the Dysphagia Research Society Annual Meeting, Vancouver BC Canada, March 8th, 2007, Abstracts Dysphagia, in press.
Lowell S, Poletto CJ, Knorr-Chung BR, Reynolds RC, Simonyan K, Ludlow CL. Cerebral activation patterns during swallowing and related tasks using functional magnetic resonance imaging, Dysphagia Research Society, Vancouver, Canada, March 2007, Abstracts Dysphagia, in press.
Chang, S-E., Kenney, M., Loucks, T., Poletto, C., & Ludlow, C. (2007). Auditory and motor region responses during speech and non-speech perception and production. NeuroImage, 36(S1), S63. Proceedings of the 13th Annual Meeting of Organization of Human Brain Mapping (2007). Chicago, June, 2007.
Loucks, T., Kenney, MK, Chang, S-E., Poletto, C., & Ludlow, C. (2007). Planning to production: The functional organization of speech and non-speech utterances. NeuroImage, 36 (S1), S74. Proceedings of the 13th Annual Meeting of Organization of Human Brain Mapping (2007). Chicago, June, 2007.
Simonyan K., Ludlow C.L.: Central laryngeal control in spasmodic dysphonia. Proceedings of the 13th Annual Meeting of Organization of Human Brain Mapping (2007). Chicago, June, 2007.
Chang, S-E., Kenney, M., Loucks, T., Poletto, C., & Ludlow, C. (2007). Cortical reductions in sensorimotor co-activation are specific to speech in stuttering. Program No. 836.8, Neuroscience Meeting Planner. San Diego, CA: Society for Neuroscience, 2007. Online.
Simonyan K., Kalasinsky V.F., Lewin-Smith M.R., Rushing E.J., Vortmeyer A.O., Ludlow C.L.: Neuropathological postmortem evaluation of the basal ganglia and cerebellum in patients with spasmodic dysphonia and vocal tremor. Proceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (2007).
Henriquez V. M., Feng X, and Ludlow C. L. Chronic changes in laryngeal adductor response conditioning three days after vocal fold inflammation in rats. Abstract for the 37th Annual Meeting for the Society for Neuroscience, 189.12, 2007.
Feng X, Henriquez VM, Walters JR, Ludlow CL. Effects of dopamine receptor antagonists on laryngeal sensorimotor reflex in rats. Proceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (2007).
Simonyan K, Ostuni J, Horwitz B, Ludlow cl. Functional and structural connectivity of the laryngeal motor cortex in humans. Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (2008).
Feng X, Henriquez V, Ludlow CL. Gender differences in laryngeal neurophysiology among Sprague-Dawley rats. Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (2008).
Martin S, Poletto CJ, Chung B, Mathews B., Kearney P., Saxon K, Ludlow CL. Movement trajectories during percutaneous electrical stimulation at rest of the hyo-laryngeal muscles in patients with chronic dysphagia. Dysphagia Research Society, March 2009.
Invited International and National Presentations (last 5 years)
Ludlow, CL. A Roadmap for Research on Spasmodic Dysphonia to the National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association Meeting March 19, 2004, Dallas, Texas.
Ludlow, CL. Future Research Directions, International Conference on Vocal Fold Physiology and Biomechanics, Marseille France, August 2004.
Ludlow CL.“Sensori-motor interactions in laryngeal control for voice and swallowing” Invited presentation, Perspectives in Neuroscience Lecture Series, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario Canada, February, 2005.
Ludlow CL. “New Research Findings on Spasmodic Dysphonia” to the National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association meeting on Portland Oregon, April 2005.
Ludlow CL. “Neurology and Phonation: Central Nervous System Control of the Laryngeal Muscles in Humans” Special lecture, The Voice Foundation’s 34th Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice, Philadelphia, June 2005.
Ludlow CL. “Laryngeal control for voice and swallowing” 47th Seminar of the Fujita Society for Rehabilitation and Kinesiology, Toyoake, Aichi, Japan, August 2005.
Ludlow CL. “Studies examining the use of intramuscular stimulation for chronic pharyngeal dysphagia” Keynote Speaker, 11th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Dysphagia Rehabilitation, Nagoya, Japan, September 2005.
Ludlow CL. “Physiological Effects of Surface Electrical Stimulation versus Intramuscular Stimulation on Swallowing in Chronic Pharyngeal Dysphagia, Charleston Swallowing Conference, October 2005
Ludlow CL. “Neural control of the laryngeal muscles for voice and swallowing” Inaugural Kay-Pentax Lecturer, American Speech Language Hearing Association, San Diego, November 2005.
Ludlow, CL. “The modulation of sensori-motor functions for voice production and disorders” G. Paul Moore Lecturer, Voice Foundation’s 35th Annual Symposium, June 2006, Philadelphia, PA, 2006.
Ludlow, CL. “The pathophysiology and neuropathology of voice disorders” SHBT Distinguished Lecturer 2007, Harvard-MIT Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, June 14, 2007, Cambridge, MA
Ludlow, CL. “Application of neuromuscular stimulation to swallowing disorders” Invited address to the Festival of International Conferences on Caregiving, Disability, Aging and Technology, Toronto, Canada, June 16, 2007.
Ludlow, CL. “The effects if dopamine depletion and augmentation on laryngeal physiology” Invited address at the 1st International Symposium on Basal; Ganglia Speech Disorders and Deep Brain Stimulation, Queen Square , London , UK, July 2, 2007
Ludlow, C.L. “Neurophysiological measures of laryngeal sensorimotor control and disorders” Summer update in otolaryngology, Neurolaryngology Study Group, Beaver Creek, Colorado, July 21, 2007.
Ludlow C.L. “ The role of sensation in laryngeal control” Mideastern Otolaryngological Conference, April 2-4th, Dubai, East Arab Emirates, 2008.
Ludlow, C.L. “CNS control of human vocalization and its response to changes in sensation” Key note speaker, International Conference on Advances in Laryngeal Biophysiology, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, 2008.
Ludlow CL. Invited Speaker , “Neuro-Rehabilitation of Swallowing Disorders After Brain Injury”, American Speech-Language –Hearing Association Annual Meeting, Chicago Illinois, 2008.
Ludlow CL, Invited Speaker , “Identification of Spasmodic Dysphonia & Update on Treatment Outcomes”, American Speech-Language –Hearing Association Annual Meeting, Chicago Illinois, 2008.
Ludlow CL, Invited Speaker , “Dilemmas & Controversies in the Management of Complex Dysphagias”, American Speech-Language –Hearing Association Annual Meeting, Chicago Illinois, 2008.
Ludlow CL., Invited Keynote Speaker, “In Homage of Britta Hammarberg: Central Nervous System Control for Human Voice Production” Karolinska Institute , Stockholm, Sweden, 2009.
Ludlow CL. Featured presentation, “State of knowledge on central control abnormalities in neurologic voice disorders.17th Annual Pacific Voice and UCLA Conference, Los Angeles, February 26-27th 2009.
Ludlow CL, Keynote speaker, From the Brain to the Larynx, at the International Workshop on Laser Voice Surgery & Voice Care” April 3 & 4, 2009, Paris – France, 2009
Ludlow CL. Keynote Speaker “What is special about speech and voice?” NINDS Annual Retreat, Warrenton, VA., May 2009.
