Erin Kamarunas
Assistant Professor
kamaruee@jmu.edu
Office: HBS 1020
Bio Page

Education:

• Postdoctoral Fellowship, James Madison University
• PhD, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Focus of Lab

Research: The primary focus of this lab is swallowing and swallowing disorders. Within this context, areas of interest include rehabilitation science, neural control of swallowing, and advanced evaluation methods.
Tools available in the lab include:

• Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)
• Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
• Videofluorography
• Electromyography
• Aerodynamics and respiratory control
• Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
• Endoscopy and stroboscopy

Contact Information:

Laboratory on Neural Bases of Communication and Swallowing
HBS 5023, MSC 4304
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
Telephone: 540-568-8846
FAX: 540-568-6492

Current Ongoing Studies:

• Mental imagery as a dysphagia treatment method
• Perception and sensory testing of swallowing
• Clinical judgements of swallowing evaluation
• Exploring novel swallowing rehabilitation methods

Peer-Reviewed Journal Publications

Wong, S.M., Kamarunas, E., Ludlow, C. Impaired movement scaling and reduced synchrony with vestibule closure characterize swallowing in severe dysphagia. Dysphagia. (In press).

Kamarunas, E., Wong, S.M., Ludlow, C. (2019) Vibration overlying the larynx increases swallowing in chronic oropharyngeal dysphagia. Dysphagia. 34(5), 640-653.

Kamarunas, E., Mulheren, R., Palmore, K., Ludlow, C. (2018) Cortical activation timing during spontaneous swallow. Experimental Brain Research. 236(2), 475-484.

Mulheren, R., Kamarunas, E., Ludlow, C. (2016) Sour taste increases swallowing and prolongs cortical responses in the swallowing network. Journal of Neurophysiology. 116(5), 2033-42.

Kamarunas, E., McCullough, G., Mennemeier, M., Munn, T. (2015) Perception of liquid volume changes with age. Journal of Oral Rehabilitation. 42(9), 657-62.
Rangarathnam, B., Kamarunas, E., McCullough, G. (2014) Role of cerebellum in deglutition and deglutition disorders. Cerebellum. 13(6), 767-76.

Kamarunas, E., McCullough, G.H., Guidry, T., Schluterman, K., Mennemeier, M. (2014) Effects of topical nasal anesthetic on fiberoptic endoscopic examination of swallowing with sensory testing (FEESST). Dysphagia. 29(1), 33-43.

McCullough, G.H., Kamarunas, E., Mann, G., Schmidley, J.W., Robbins, J.A., Crary, M.A. (2012) Effects of Mendelsohn maneuver on measures of swallowing duration post-stroke. Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation. 19(3), 234-43.

Peer-Reviewed Presentations

Griffin, L., Kamarunas, E., Kuo, C., Henn, M., O’Donoghue, C. (2020) Dysphonia Outperforms Voice Change as a Clinical Predictor of Dysphagia. Accepted for poster presentation at the Dysphagia Research Society in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Kamarunas, E., Szynkiewicz, S., Griffin, L., Henn, M., Drulia, T. (2020) Cortical activation changes driven by mental practice of motor imagery in a swallowing-related task. Accepted for oral presentation at the Dysphagia Research Society in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Szynkiewicz, S., Kamarunas, E., Drulia, T., Nobriga, C., Griffin, L., O’Donoghue, C. (2019) Enhancing effectiveness of active tongue strengthening exercise using mental practice. Oral presentation at the Dysphagia Research Society in San Diego, CA.

Griffin, L., Kamarunas, E., Henn, M., Schwenger, L., McCann, E., O’Donoghue, C. (2018) Establishing effective amplitude criterion for transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Poster presentation at The American Speech-Language- Hearing Association meeting in Boston, MA.

Wong, S.M., & Kamarunas, E. (2018) Cortical adaptation to changing need for airway protection during swallowing. Poster presentation at the Dysphagia Research Society in Baltimore, MD.

Kamarunas, E., Wong, S.M, Griffin, L., Ludlow, C. (2017) Home Use of Vibratory Stimulation for Retraining in Patients With Chronic Dysphagia. Oral presentation at The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association meeting at Los Angeles, CA.

Drulia, T., Kamarunas, E., Ludlow, C. (2017) Effects of lung volume on swallowing in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Accepted for presentation at the Dysphagia Research Society in  Portland, OR.

Kamarunas, E., Rinehart, R. (2017) The effect of biofeedback and exercise target on cortical hemodynamic response. Accepted for presentation at the Dysphagia Research Society in  Portland, OR.

Barone, N., Kamarunas, E., Ludlow, C. (2016) Changes in cortical control for singing onset with increases in task difficulty. Accepted for presentation at the annual Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy conference in Paris, France.

Barone, N., Ryoo, J., Kamarunas, E. (2016) How we determine baseline measures and its impact on results: A reflective discussion. Accepted for presentation at the annual Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy conference in Paris, France.

Mulheren, R., Kamarunas, E., Ludlow, C. (2016) The effect of taste on swallowing elicitation and cortical activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Oral presentation at the Dysphagia Research Society at Tuscon, AZ.

Kamarunas, E., Mulheren, R., Ludlow, C. (2015) Timing of the hemodynamic response for spontaneous swallowing: A functional near infrared spectroscopy study. Oral presentation at The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association meeting at Denver, CO. 

Kamarunas, E., Mennemeier, M., Guidry, T., McCullough, G. (2013) Oral perception of liquid volume changes with age. Poster presented at the Dysphagia Research Society at Seattle, WA.

Kamarunas, E., McCullough, G., Taylor, S., Munn, T., Mennemeier, M. (2012) Effects of topical nasal anesthesia on flexible endoscopic examination of swallowing with sensory testing (FEESST) on healthy participants; Preliminary results. Poster presented at the Dysphagia Research Society at Toronto, CA.

Kamarunas, E., Smith, R., McCullough, G., Munn, T., Chilcote, M.E., Mennemeier, M. (2010) Effects of manipulated arousal on swallowing and sensory perceptions in healthy participants. Poster presented at the Dysphagia Research Society at San Antonio, TX.