Marina Martinez, Université de Montréal

Research

Cortex Locomotor Recovery Plasticity Spinal Cord Injury Cortical Maps Neurostimulation Rats Neuroprothetics

Latest papers

Cortical specificity matters: the importance of stimulating hindlimb representation for the recovery of skilled locomotion after severe spinal cord injury.
Brain stimulation · 2026 · senior author
Motor Recovery After a Hemispherectomy: Review of Mechanisms and the Potential of Neuromodulation to Enhance Motor Outcomes.
Journal of child neurology · 2026
Characterization of Sleep, Emotional, and Cognitive Functions in a New Rat Model of Concomitant Spinal Cord and Traumatic Brain Injuries.
Journal of neurotrauma · 2024 · senior author

All 15 publications

Latest funding

Targeting somatosensory cortex plasticity to restore locomotor function after spinal cord injury
CIHR · 2026 · Nominated PI
$956,250
Shared histology equipment: cryostat
NSERC · 2025 · Co-investigator
$64,375
Combiner des stimulations corticales et périphériques pour moduler la locomotion
CIHR · 2025 · Supervisor
$6,000

All 5 grants and awards

15 publications.

01

Cortical specificity matters: the importance of stimulating hindlimb representation for the recovery of skilled locomotion after severe spinal cord injury.

Chouinard AC, Delivet-Mongrain H, Bergeron D, Martinez M

Brain stimulation2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2026.103187 PMID: 42586499

02

Motor Recovery After a Hemispherectomy: Review of Mechanisms and the Potential of Neuromodulation to Enhance Motor Outcomes.

Bergeron D, Barthélemy D, Hadjinicolaou A, Bonizzato M, Martinez M, Dancause N, Weil AG

Journal of child neurology2026

DOI: 10.1177/08830738251413830 PMID: 41686708

03

Characterization of Sleep, Emotional, and Cognitive Functions in a New Rat Model of Concomitant Spinal Cord and Traumatic Brain Injuries.

Regniez M, Dufort-Gervais J, Provost C, Mongrain V, Martinez M

Journal of neurotrauma2024Senior author

DOI: 10.1089/neu.2023.0387 PMID: 37885242

04

Uncovering and leveraging the return of voluntary motor programs after paralysis using a bi-cortical neuroprosthesis.

Duguay M, Bonizzato M, Delivet-Mongrain H, Fortier-Lebel N, Martinez M

Progress in neurobiology2023Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2023.102492 PMID: 37414352

05

Autonomous optimization of neuroprosthetic stimulation parameters that drive the motor cortex and spinal cord outputs in rats and monkeys.

Bonizzato M, Guay Hottin R, Côté SL, Massai E, Choinière L, Macar U, Laferrière S, Sirpal P, Quessy S, Lajoie G, Martinez M, Dancause N

Cell reports. Medicine2023

DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2023.101008 PMID: 37044093

06

Chronic inactivation of the contralesional hindlimb motor cortex after thoracic spinal cord hemisection impedes locomotor recovery in the rat.

Brown AR, Martinez M

Experimental neurology2021Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2021.113775 PMID: 34081986

07

An intracortical neuroprosthesis immediately alleviates walking deficits and improves recovery of leg control after spinal cord injury.

Bonizzato M, Martinez M

Science translational medicine2021Senior author

DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abb4422 PMID: 33762436

08

Ipsilesional Motor Cortex Plasticity Participates in Spontaneous Hindlimb Recovery after Lateral Hemisection of the Thoracic Spinal Cord in the Rat.

Brown AR, Martinez M

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience2018Senior author

DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1062-18.2018 PMID: 30301755

09

The "beneficial" effects of locomotor training after various types of spinal lesions in cats and rats.

Rossignol S, Martinez M, Escalona M, Kundu A, Delivet-Mongrain H, Alluin O, Gossard JP

Progress in brain research2015

DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2014.12.009 PMID: 25890137

10

Recovery of locomotion after partial spinal cord lesions in cats: assessment using behavioral, electrophysiological and imaging techniques.

Cohen-Adad J, Martinez M, Delivet-Mongrain H, Rossignol S

Acta neurobiologiae experimentalis2014

DOI: 10.55782/ane-2014-1981 PMID: 24993625

Targeting somatosensory cortex plasticity to restore locomotor function after spinal cord injury

Nominated PICIHR2026Project Grant

Principal investigators: Martinez, Marina C

Keywords: Cortex; Cortical Maps; Locomotor Recovery; Neurostimulation; Plasticity; Rats; Spinal Cord Injury

$956,250

Shared histology equipment: cryostat

Co-investigatorNSERC2025Research Tools and Instruments

Principal investigators: Dubuc, Réjean

Keywords: neurophysiology; neuroanatomy; cell imaging; immunofluorescence; neural pathway labelling; histological validation; cortical networks; brainstem networks; neuromodulation

$64,375

Combiner des stimulations corticales et périphériques pour moduler la locomotion

SupervisorCIHR2025Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA)

Principal investigators: Nya Chetgnia, D'Orgelle Joyce

Keywords: Cerebraux; Circuits; Cortex Moteurs; Locomotion; Mouvements; Patrons; Spinaux; Stimulation

$6,000

Corticospinal mechanisms of locomotor recovery after spinal cord injury

Nominated PICIHR2021Project Grant

Principal investigators: Martinez, Marina C

Keywords: Cortex; Locomotor Recovery; Neuroprothetics; Plasticity; Rat; Spinal Cord Injury

$807,076

A transcranial magnetic stimulation setup for animal research

Co-investigatorNSERC2017Research Tools and Instruments

Principal investigators: Dancause, Numa

$147,813

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Neurosciences
Physiology
Génie électrique
Electrical Engineering
Other

Co-authors at Université de Montréal, colored by department. Thicker lines mean more shared papers; select anyone to open their profile and their own map.

Marco Bonizzato

Génie électrique

2 shared papers, latest 2026

Numa Dancause

Neurosciences

2 shared papers, latest 2026

Julien Cohen-Adad

Electrical Engineering

1 shared papers, latest 2014

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their CIHR grant from 2026

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Cortex Dear Professor Martinez, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Cortical specificity matters: the importance of stimulating hindlimb representation for the recovery of skilled locomotion after severe spinal cord injury." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your CIHR-funded project "Targeting somatosensory cortex plasticity to restore locomotor function after spinal cord injury" (2026), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]

Marina Martinez