Faculty Focus - William Hutchison


William Hutchison, MSc, PhD  

Dr. William Hutchison received his MSc in Pharmacology from the University of Toronto before going on to receive his PhD in Neuroscience from Australian National University, Canberra in 1990. He completed post-doctoral studies in Neurophysiology at the University of Würzburg in Germany and at the University of Toronto Department of Physiology. He was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto Departments of Surgery and Physiology in 1996. His research focuses on the neurophysiology of Parkinson’s Disease and movement disorders, as well as the mechanisms of action of deep brain stimulation. He is currently Full Professor at both the Department of Surgery and the Department of Physiology, and Senior Scientist at the Toronto Western Research Institute.

Current Appointments

  • Full Professor, Departments of Surgery and Physiology
  • Senior Scientist, Toronto Western Research Institute

Selected Professional Activities

  • Member, Movement Disorders Society, Society for Neuroscience
  • Member, World Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery
  • Member, Alexander von Humboldt Society

Selected Peer-Reviewed Funding

  • Medtronic, 2010-2012.
    Synaptic plasticity and deep brain stimulation action .
    PI: Hutchison WD.
    $30,364
  • Dystonia Medical Research Foundation, 2010-2012
    Activity-dependent synaptic plasticity in globus pallidus of dystonia patients .
    PI: Hutchison WD. Co PI's: Dostrovsky JO, Hodaie M, Lozano AM.
    $60,000
  • CIHR MOP 98006, 2009-2017
    Dopamine and synaptic plasticity in human substantia nigra pars reticulata
    PI: Hutchison WD. Co PI's: Dostrovsky JO, Hodaie M, Lozano AM.
    $495,000

Selected Publications

  • Basha D, Dostrovsky JO, Lopez Rios AL, Hodaie M, Lozano AM, Hutchison WD. Beta oscillatory neurons in the motor thalamus of movement disorder and pain patients. Exp Neurol. 2014 Nov;261:782-90.
  • Srejic LR, Prescott IA, Zhang P, Strauss I, Dostrovsky JO, Giacobbe P, Kennedy SH, Lozano AM, Hamani C, Hutchison WD. Paired Pulse Depression in the Subcallosal Cingulate Region of Depression Patients. Biol Psychiatry. 2014 Sep 30.
  • Fuller J, Prescott IA, Moro E, Toda H, Lozano A, Hutchison WD. Pallidal deep brain stimulation for a case of hemidystonia secondary to a striatal stroke. Stereotact Funct Neurosurg. 2013;91(3):190-7.
  • Prescott IA, Dostrovsky JO, Moro E, Hodaie M, Lozano AM, Hutchison WD. Reduced paired pulse depression in the basal ganglia of dystonia patients. Neurobiol Dis. 2013 Mar;51:214-21.
  • Liu LD, Prescott IA, Dostrovsky JO, Hodaie M, Lozano AM, Hutchison WD. Frequency-dependent effects of electrical stimulation in the globus pallidus of dystonia patients. J Neurophysiol. 2012 Jul;108(1):5-17.
  • Tang JK, Mahant N, Cunic D, Chen R, Moro E, Lang AE, Lozano AM, Hutchison WD, Dostrovsky JO. Changes in cortical and pallidal oscillatory activity during the execution of a sensory trick in patients with cervical dystonia. Exp Neurol. 2007 Apr;204(2):845-8.
  • Hutchison WD, Lang AE, Dostrovsky JO, Lozano AM. Pallidal neuronal activity: implications for models of dystonia. Ann Neurol. 2003 Apr;53(4):480-8.
  • Kumar R, Dagher A, Hutchison WD, Lang AE, Lozano AM. Globus pallidus deep brain stimulation for generalized dystonia: clinical and PET investigation. Neurology. 1999 Sep 11;53(4):871-4.
  • Lozano AM, Kumar R, Gross RE, Giladi N, Hutchison WD, Dostrovsky JO, Lang AE. Globus pallidus internus pallidotomy for generalized dystonia. Mov Disord. 1997 Nov;12(6):865-70.