Research

• Exercise Physiology (Biodynamics) Laboratory
• Exercise Psychology Laboratory
• Biomechanics Laboratory
• Human Sensory and Motor Control Laboratory
• Motor Behavior Laboratory (Natatorium 2224)
• Motor Systems Physiology Laboratory (MSC)
• Physical Activity Epidemiology Laboratory
• Physical Activity Pedagogy Laboratory

Exercise Physiology (Biodynamics) Laboratory

The Biodynamics Laboratory is a multidisciplinary facility in the Department of Kinesiology, UW-Madison. The laboratory encompasses approximately 10,000 square feet of floor space devoted to biochemical analysis (enzymology, histochemistry, protein chemistry, free radical chemistry, and molecular biology) and physiological research (exercise, aging, experimental cardiology). A small animal surgical suite (150 s.f.) and a cold room (100 s.f.) are located within the laboratory. The Laboratory is equipped with a tissue culture hood with CO2 incubator. The laboratory is certified for uses of radioisotopes, controlled drugs, and small animal surgery.

Currently, the Biodynamics Laboratory host the following faculty members:
Jerry Dempsey, Gary Diffee, Li Li Ji, Barbara Morgan, William Schrage

In Dr. Jerome Dempsey's preventive medicine laboratory, the regulation of breathing and the role of the pulmonary system in determining exercise performance is studied using a variety of physiologic approaches, including neurophysiologic recordings, animal models with isolated upper airway or extra-corporeal perfusion of the carotid chemoreceptors and measurements of the respiratory mechanics, diaphragm activity and blood flow in the exercising human.

Dr. Gary Diffee studies the regulation of contraction in skeletal and cardiac muscle and how this regulation is altered by perturbations such as exercise training, injury, or disease. Typical experiments involve measurement of contractile properties single skeletal muscle fibers and single cardiac myocytes and correlation of altered mechanical properties to changes in cell protein composition detected by biochemical and molecular biological techniques.

The focus of Dr. Li Li Ji's laboratory is the role of oxygen free radicals in exercise-induced cellular damage, pathogenesis, and aging, as well as lipogenic enzyme regulation. The experimental approaches include: 1) assessment of oxidative modification in macromolecules such as protein, lipid, and DNA; 2) determination of cellular enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity in various tissues; 3) in vivo models that evaluate oxidative stress, such as open-chest rat heart ischemia-reperfusion, acute exercise and chronic training, dietary manipulation, and aging.

Dr. Barbara Morgan studies neural control of the circulatory system in humans. Intraneural microelectrodes are used to record sympathetic nervous system activity during sleep, chemo- and baroreflex perturbations, and exercise.

Dr. Schrage's laboratory is focused on understanding control of muscle blood flow during exercise. Proper control of muscle blood flow has enormous influence on blood pressure and blood glucose control in health and disease. Specifically, he is interested in how cardiovascular conditions like aging or high blood pressure impair blood flow and how regulator physical activity may improve blood flow and blood vessel function. He uses various state-of-art methods to conduct his
experiments using both human and animal models.

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Exercise Psychology Laboratory

Laboratory Facilities and Research Paradigms: The Exercise Psychology Laboratory includes two sound-dampened chambers for use in conducting experimental research, and these testing facilities are supported by state-of-the-art hardware employed in gathering psychophysiological data. An MRI simulator, located in the adjacent Sensory and Motor Control Laboratory, is available for MRI training and behavioral testing. Research in the Exercise Psychology laboratory has been generally concerned with quantifying the psychophysiological responses to exercise. Numerous behavioral methods have been used to determine affective and perceptual responses to exercise including the use of biofeedback, hypnosis, imagery, meditation and traditional relaxation interventions such as autogenic training. More recently, the labs focus has been on the psychophysiologcal aspects of pain, fatigue and perceived exertion during and following exercise. These studies are being conducted in both healthy participants and patients with chronic pain and fatigue and are aimed at understanding the psychophysiological mechanisms that underlie the perceptual experience. Neuroimaging experiments using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are also being conducted to determine neural responses related to pain, fatigue and exercise.

The lab houses or has access to a wide variety of equipment for use in psychophysiological research. For exercise, the laboratory has an electronically braked cycle ergometer (Sensormedics ergoline 8000), a motorized treadmill (Nautilus 5.0), hand dynamometers and a TrueMax 2400 metabolic cart (ParvoMedics). For pain sensitivity, there is a Forgione-Barber type pressure algometer and a Medoc 2001 Thermal Sensory Analyzer. In addition, the lab has an fMRI compatible computer computerized thermal stimulator, the Medoc Pain & Sensory Evaluation System, capable of selectively stimulating A-Delta fibers and C-fibers for sensory research. Investigators in the lab collaborate with the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior and have access to a state-of-the-art GE 3T MRI and PET units. Graduate students in this laboratory have also had an opportunity to interact with visiting scientists from other institutions, as well as investigators from other departments on campus such as Psychology, Educational Psychology, Counseling Psychology, Psychiatry, and Preventive Medicine.

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Biomechanics Laboratory

Under the guidance of Dr. Kreg Gruben, the biomechanics laboratory, located at 1081Natatorium, 2000 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI, includes motion capture systems, force plates, instrumented pedals, electromyography and data acquisition systems, and electronic and mechanical shops.

Our research focuses on how nervous system control enables walking, how injury disrupts that control, and how walking may be improved. Efforts vary from basic research to applied engineering. Specific projects include:

Research Summary

1. Our research has focused on a preferred lower limb coordination strategy that appears important for upright bipedal locomotion. To probe that strategy we have used various kinematically-constrained tasks (Figs. 1-3). By prescribing limb end-point motion with robotic devices and asking the subjects to exert force in their preferred manner, we have been able to isolate the contribution of muscles to end-point force from the contributions of gravity and inertia (Figs. 4 & 5). That isolation of the muscle component allows us to characterize a neural control strategy that appears to be a fundamental component of walking.

2. We have further discovered how the neurological injury cause by a stroke alters that control strategy in the paretic leg. The altered control produces force in a direction that makes bipedal locomotion more difficult. The direct effects of that misdirection and the compensations that can enable adaptive locomotion correspond well with behavior after stroke. Those observations suggest that therapy should be directed at an underlying cause of gait disturbance -- force misdirection

3. We are developing therapeutic strategies to address the problem of force misdirection with the objective of improving locomotion safety and efficiency after stroke.

Research grant support comes from the National Institutes of Health, the Virginia Horne Henry Fund, and the UW Graduate School.

References

• Gruben KG, López-Ortiz C: Characteristics of the force applied to a pedal during human pushing efforts: Emergent linearity. J Motor Behavior, 32(2):151-162, 2000.
• Gruben KG, López-Ortiz C, Schmidt MW: The control of foot force during pushing efforts against a moving pedal. Experimental Brain Research, 148(1):50-61, 2003.
• Gruben KG, Rogers LM, Schmidt MW: Direction of foot force for pushes against a fixed pedal: role of effort level. Motor Control, 7(3):229-41, 2003.
• Schmidt MW, López-Ortiz C, Barrett PS, Rogers LM, Gruben KG: Foot force direction in an isometric pushing task: prediction by kinematic and musculoskeletal models. Experimental Brain Research, 150(2):245-54, 2003.
• Gruben KG, López-Ortiz C, Giachetti RS: Muscular and postural components of foot forces during quasi-static extension efforts. J Applied Biomechanics, 19:239-245, 2003.
• Gruben KG, Rogers LM, Schmidt MW, Tan L: Direction of foot force for pushes against a fixed pedal: variation with pedal position. Motor Control, 7:366-383, 2003.
• Rogers LM, Brown DA, Gruben KG: Foot force direction control during leg pushes against fixed and moving pedals in persons post-stroke. Gait and Posture, 19(1):58-68, 2004.

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Human Sensory and Motor Control Laboratory

The Human Sensory and Motor Control Lab, housed in Room 1156 Unit II Gym/Nat is a 1674 sq foot space dedicated to research on how movement skills are controlled, developed, acquired, and affected by disability, disease or disuse. Current research involves a combination of approaches from cognitive science, psychology, and neuroscience. Equipment includes various generic, LabView-based, data acquisition systems with custom-made hardware for acquiring kinematic, kinetic and electromyographic (EMG) data of upper limb movement control and coordination; mock MRI for experimental design and participant desensitization.

Faculty of the Human Sensory and Motor Control Lab and
Current Research Interests

Jo-Anne Lazarus, PhD (University of Michigan): the development of thumb/index finger and bimanual control; the mechanisms of motor disorders in neurological populations; functional neuroimaging to examine the control mechanisms in neurological disorders.

Andrea Mason, PhD (Simon Fraser University): understanding how sensory information, such as visual and haptic (sense of active touch) feedback, is used to control simple, bimanual and collaborative movements made in both natural and virtual environments.

Dane Cook, PhD (University of Georgia): the mechanisms of muscle pain as they relate to physical activity in healthy people and those with chronic pain; functional neuroimaging to examine how pain is processed and modulated.

*For more information regarding specific research, refer to the individual faculty profiles.

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Motor Behavior Laboratory (Natatorium 2224)

Faculty

Andrea Mason, Ph.D.
Jo-Anne Lazarus, Ph.D.

Laboratory Facilities and Experimental Approaches:

The Motor Behavior Laboratory is equipped for the collection and analysis of kinematic and kinetic measures associated with human movement. The primary focus of research in the Motor Behavior Lab is on the planning and control of simple and multi-effector upper limb movements in humans in both natural and virtual environments.

Human movement information is collected using two VisualEyez (Phoenix Technologies, Inc.) three-dimensional motion analysis camera systems, which track the motion of light-emitting diodes placed on landmarks of interest. Grip force regulation as subjects grasp and manipulate objects is monitored using 2 six degree of freedom Nano-17 force transducers (ATI, Inc.). Custom data analysis programs (KinSys, Eh-Soft) allow for the derivation of selected kinematic and kinetic variables such as velocity profiles, spatial path plots, aperture profiles, force plots, and acceleration profiles.

The WiscCVE is a collaborative virtual environment currently under development in the motor behavior laboratory. At this time we have a functioning single-user table-top virtual environment designed to permit detailed and highly accurate kinematic and kinetic measurements of human performance. The current system provides a head-coupled, stereoscopic virtual experience to a single user, allowing the user to grasp and manipulate graphical objects.  This environment can be used to manipulate the visual, graphical and haptic information being displayed to the subject, allowing for the study of the role of sensory information on human performance.

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Motor Systems Physiology Laboratory (MSC)

Faculty

Peter van Kan, Ph.D.

Laboratory Facilities and Experimental Approaches:

The Motor Systems Physiology Laboratory in the Medical Science Center is available for study of the circuits and basic neural mechanisms involved in the guidance and control of voluntary limb movements in animals. Routinely used research methods include:

1. Recording signals transmitted along neuroanatomically defined pathways in behaving monkeys and cats using microelectrodes

2. Studying behavioral deficits resulting from reversible inactivation of specific cell groups, and

3. Defining relevant neural pathways using contemporary neuroanatomical techniques

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Physical Activity Epidemiology Laboratory

Under the guidance of Lisa H. Colbert, work in this laboratory focuses on the following areas: 1) associations between physical activity, pain, and physical function in older survivors of cancer, 2) the measurement of physical activity, 3) associations between activity and healthy aging, 4) and physical activity in cancer prevention and control with a particular focus on potential mechanisms. The laboratory itself currently houses several computers, meeting and work space, and equipment for the measurement of physical activity.

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Physical Activity Pedagogy Laboratory

The Physical Activity Pedagogy Lab is located in Room 1017 Unit II Gymnasium/Natatoriumis.

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