About

Jason Bouffard is a leading researcher at the intersection of pain, motor learning, and rehabilitation robotics. His work fundamentally explores how pain—both tonic and experimental—interferes with the brain’s ability to acquire and retain new motor skills, a critical question for patients undergoing physical therapy. Bouffard’s most cited study (74 citations) demonstrated that tonic pain during locomotor training impairs retention of learned movements, even when performance during training appears normal. This finding challenges conventional rehabilitation approaches and highlights the hidden cost of pain on neuroplasticity. His subsequent work (48 citations) extended this to upper-limb learning, showing that pain disrupts motor acquisition in force-field tasks. Notably, Bouffard also investigates whether the timing of pain (acquisition vs. retention) differentially affects motor adaptation, and he has developed novel measures of dynamic proprioception using robotized ankle-foot orthoses. Beyond pain, he has contributed to assistive technology, surveying occupational therapists on wheelchair-mounted robotic arms and assessing their real-world impacts on individuals with neuromuscular disorders. With over 200 total citations, Bouffard’s research bridges fundamental sensorimotor neuroscience with practical rehabilitation and assistive robotics, offering critical insights for designing pain-aware, effective therapies.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

7
H-Index
7
Papers
199
Total Citations
28
Avg Citations/Paper
🏆 Most Cited Paper
Tonic Pain Experienced during Locomotor Training Impairs Retention Despite Normal Performance during Acquisition
74 citations · 2014
📈 Most Prolific Year: 2014 (2 Papers)
🤝 Key Collaborators: 18
🏛 Institutions: Université Laval, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation, Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux du Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Université du Québec à Montréal

Top Papers

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Key Collaborators

Contact & Links

Available for collaboration
Content generated · 13 days ago