Personal profile
Research interests
Jacob is an early-career teaching and research academic within the Faculty of Health Sciences & Medicine at Bond University and is looking to recruit prospective honours, masters and PhD students interested in studying human neurophysiology.
Jacob’s PhD was in neurophysiology (Griffith University, Australia), where he studied how endogenously released neuromodulators (e.g., monoamines such as serotonin and dopamine) control the excitability of the corticospinal-motoneuronal system and muscle activation in healthy human subjects. Jacob also has postdoctoral training in clinical neuroscience (through The University of Queensland, based at the Queensland Children’s Hospital), where he further developed his expertise in neuromodulation by investigating the use of non-invasive neurostimulation techniques (e.g., repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, rTMS) as a clinical intervention after nervous system injury. Most recently, before starting at Bond, Jacob was a teaching and research academic in the School of Biomedical Sciences at The University of Queensland.
Overall, Jacob’s research involves electrophysiological data collection from awake human participants, and his work spans across basic and clinical neuroscience, neuropharmacology, and exercise science. He has a strong background in mechanistic human neurophysiology experiments, and extensive experience with non-invasive brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerve stimulation techniques that quantify or modulate the output of the human nervous system and muscles.
Send Jacob an email ([email protected]) if you are interested in research opportunities or would like to find out more about his work.
Education/Academic qualification
Clinical Neurology, Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Queensland
2021 → 2022
Neurophysiology, PhD, Griffith University
2018 → 2021
Exercise Science (Honours), BExSc (Hons), Griffith University
2017
Exercise Science, BExSc, Griffith University
2014 → 2016
External positions
Honorary Research Fellow, University of Queensland
2024 → …
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
-
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
-
Non-Homogeneous Distribution of Inhibitory Inputs Among Motor Units in Response to Nociceptive Stimulation
Hug, F., Dernoncourt, F., Avrillon, S., Thorstensen, J., Besomi, M., Hoorn, W. V. D. & Tucker, K., 27 Mar 2025, 38 p. bioRxiv - the preprint server for Biology.Research output: Other contribution › Discipline Preprint Repository › Research
Open Access -
Non‐homogeneous distribution of inhibitory inputs among motor units in response to nociceptive stimulation at moderate contraction intensity
Hug, F., Dernoncourt, F., Avrillon, S., Thorstensen, J., Besomi, M., Hoorn, W. V. D. & Tucker, K., 1 Jun 2025, In: The Journal of Physiology. 603, 11, p. 3445 - 3461 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access4 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus) -
Are we underestimating the potential of neuroactive drugs to augment neuromotor function in sarcopenia?
Orssatto, L. B. R., Thorstensen, J. R., Scott, D. & Daly, R. M., May 2024, In: Metabolism: clinical and experimental. 154, p. 1-4 4 p., 155816.Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › Research
1 Link opens in a new tab Citation (Scopus) -
Attention Please! Unravelling the link between brain network connectivity and cognitive attention following acquired brain injury: A systematic review of structural and functional measures
Stein, A., Thorstensen, J., Ho, J. M., Ashley, D. P., Iyer, K. K. & Barlow, K. M., 1 Feb 2024, In: Brain Connectivity. 14, 1, p. 4-38 35 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › Research › peer-review
6 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus) -
Curious Kids: why do you get pins and needles in your legs when you sit on them?
Moro, C. & Thorstensen, J., 18 Jun 2024, In: The Conversation.Research output: Contribution to journal › Online Resource › Education
Open Access
-
FULT iLumni Breakfast
Thorstensen, J. (Attendee)
19 Jun 2025Activity: Professional Development, Mentorship, Supervision and Other Activities › Internal Professional Development
-
The Neuroscience of Engagement: Experiential Techniques for Today's Distracted Minds
Thorstensen, J. (Presenter)
19 Jun 2025Activity: Professional Development, Mentorship, Supervision and Other Activities › Internal Professional Development
-
MD Supervision - Guwanya Kodithuwakku - The role of microRNAs in mediating improvements in body composition with regular physical activity.
Gunter, S. (Supervisor), Nogueira, R. (Secondary Supervisor), Thorstensen, J. (Secondary Supervisor) & Phelps, C. (Secondary Supervisor)
May 2024 → Jun 2025Activity: Professional Development, Mentorship, Supervision and Other Activities › Non-HDR Student Supervision