May 22, 2000

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Edward Taub, Ph.D., a UAB professor of psychology, has been named a recipient of the Humboldt Research Award for Senior U.S. Scientists. The German prize is presented annually to internationally renowned scholars in recognition of past achievements in research.

Taub was cited for his contributions in the fields of behavioral neuroscience and neurological rehabilitation. His work resulted in the development of new therapies to substantially improve motor function in chronic stroke patients. Specifically, he devised Constraint-Induced Movement therapy, which restores motor function in patients suffering from stroke and traumatic brain injury.

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation grants up to 150 research awards each year. An estimated 80 of those prizes are awarded to researchers from the United States. The award fosters cooperation between German researchers and other scientists around the world by allowing winners to spend up to a year at German institutions to carry out research projects of their own choice in cooperation with German researchers. The award also carries a cash prize. Taub will receive $50,000.

Taub has previously collaborated with German researchers on several studies such as the use of magnetoencephalography to demonstrate in humans the phenomenon of cortical reorganization, a mechanism involving a rewiring of the nervous system after it sustains injury or after increased use of a body part. The work of Taub and his collaborators showed a strong correlation between cortical reorganization and phantom limb pain, tinnitus, and focal hand dystonia in musicians, which is the loss of the ability to control movements in the fingers.