In the Neuromotor Behavior Laboratory, we examine the neural and behavioral processes underlying motor control and skill acquisition. Our primary research goal is to understand interactions between the brain and movement. We are interested in how the brain produces movement, how repetition of movement changes the brain, and how age and movement disorders interact with these processes. Our emphasis is on examining changes in brain structure-function relationships that occur with performance change produced by practice, external environmental changes such as microgravity exposure, or internal system changes such as aging and disease. The lab has a particular interest in understanding individual differences; we believe that identification of cognitive, neural, neurocomputational and / or genetic predictors of individual performance differences can elucidate the mechanisms underlying behavior.
Research Highlights:
- Conducting studies on brain changes with aging, disease, and spaceflight and determining how they associate with motor performance
- Laboratory funding from the NIH, NSF, NASA, and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute
- Recent publications in high impact journals such as Cerebral Cortex, Microgravity, Neurobiology of Aging, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, and Neuroimage