Dr Rade Durbaba

Assistant Professor

School: Geography and Natural Sciences

Rade studied for a BSc in Biophysics at University of East Anglia (awarded 1986). It was here that he 1^st got interested in Neuroscience. He followed this up with a Postgraduate Diploma in Neuroscience from the University of Edinburgh.

He then moved to London, initially at the Sherrington School of Physiology, UMDS, St Thomas’ Hospital with Professor Antony Taylor, and subsequently together with Professor Peter Ellaway at Imperial College London (Charing Hospital Site), working on understanding the role that the muscle spindle plays in movement control. He completed on a part-time basis both an MSc in Neurophysiology Basis of Behaviour and a PhD (awarded 2001).

Upon completing his PhD, Rade stayed at Imperial College London, initially as a Senior Research Fellow then as a Research Lecturer.

Rade moved to Northumbria University in 2007 to take up the post of Senior Lecturer, where he teaches Neuroscience and Muscle Physiology on several programmes, including the 1^st year of a Medical Degree (DipHE Med Sci) run in partnership with St George’s University Grenada. He is programme leader for the DipHE Med Sci.

Email Rade

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

My general research area is on understanding the role that sensory feedback from muscle related to length, as provided by the specialised muscle spindle receptor, is involved in movement output and regulation. Most recent focus has been on examining how aging affects this feedback interaction with cortical drive for movement, as provided by the corticospinal pathway.

Am also interested in the role that muscle spindle feedback plays in tremor associated to the diseased state, such as Essential Tremor and Parkinson’s Disease.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Acute changes in motor unit behavior to fatiguing isometric contractions with blood flow restriction in healthy individuals, Angius, L., Hayman, O., Durbaba, R., Howatson, G., Goodall, S. 13 Feb 2026, In: Journal of Applied Physiology
Corticospinal responses during passive shortening and lengthening of tibialis anterior and soleus in older compared to younger adults, Škarabot, J., Ansdell, P., Howatson, G., Goodall, S., Durbaba, R. 1 Mar 2020, In: Experimental Physiology
Task-specific strength increases after lower-limb compound resistance training occurred in the absence of corticospinal changes in vastus lateralis, Ansdell, P., Brownstein, C., Škarabot, J., Angius, L., Kidgell, D., Frazer, A., Hicks, K., Durbaba, R., Howatson, G., Goodall, S., Thomas, K. 1 Jul 2020, In: Experimental Physiology
Compound Maximal Motor Unit Response is modulated by contraction intensity, but not contraction type in Tibialis Anterior, Tallent, J., Goodall, S., Kidgell, D., Durbaba, R., Howatson, G. Sep 2019, In: Physiological Reports
Corticospinal excitability of tibialis anterior and soleus differs during passive ankle movement, Škarabot, J., Ansdell, P., Brownstein, C., Hicks, K., Howatson, G., Goodall, S., Durbaba, R. 1 Sep 2019, In: Experimental Brain Research
Electrical stimulation of human corticospinal axons at the level of the lumbar spinal segments, Škarabot, J., Ansdell, P., Brownstein, C., Thomas, K., Howatson, G., Goodall, S., Durbaba, R. 1 May 2019, In: European Journal of Neuroscience
Neurophysiological responses and adaptation following repeated bouts of maximal lengthening contractions in young and older adults, Škarabot, J., Ansdell, P., Temesi, J., Howatson, G., Goodall, S., Durbaba, R. 1 Nov 2019, In: Journal of Applied Physiology
Reduced corticospinal responses in older compared with younger adults during submaximal isometric, shortening, and lengthening contractions, Škarabot, J., Ansdell, P., Brownstein, C., Hicks, K., Howatson, G., Goodall, S., Durbaba, R. 15 Apr 2019, In: Journal of Applied Physiology
Corticospinal excitability during shortening and lengthening actions with incremental torque output, Škarabot, J., Tallent, J., Goodall, S., Durbaba, R., Howatson, G. 1 Dec 2018, In: Experimental Physiology
Differences in force normalising procedures during submaximal anisometric contractions, Škarabot, J., Ansdell, P., Brownstein, C., Howatson, G., Goodall, S., Durbaba, R. Aug 2018, In: Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology