Research Overview

Research in the Neuromotor Behavior Laboratory focuses on motor control and skill learning. We study the neural and behavioral processes underlying skill acquisition. Our emphasis is on determining changes in brain structure-function relationships that occur with performance change caused by learning, external environmental changes, or internal system changes such as aging and disease. Research techniques include the use of functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (conducted at the Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, North Campus) and quantitative motor assessments such as kinematic, kinetic, and electromyographic analyses. For various research projects, we test normal healthy subjects, aged individuals, and patients with Parkinson's disease.

 

Members

Director(s)

Rachael Seidler Ph.D.

Visiting Scholar(s)

Jing Liu, PhD

Research Staff

Catherine Kinnaird

Tina Wu

Post-Doctoral Fellow(s)

Nathan Miller, PhD

Vincent Koppelmans, PhD

Burak Erdeniz, PhD

Graduate Student(s)

Brian Greeley

Sara Festini

Fatemeh Noohi

Melissa Wright

Collaborator(s)

Nicolaas Bohnen, Ph.D., U-M Radiology

William Gehring, Ph.D., U-M Psychology

John Jonides, Ph.D., U-M Psychology

Douglas Noll, Ph.D., U-M Biomedical Engineering

Patricia Reuter-Lorenz, Ph.D., U-M Psychology

Robert Welsh, Ph.D., U-M Radiology and U-M Physics

Daniel Willingham, Ph.D., University of Virginia Department of Psychology

Ajitkumar Mulavara, Ph.D., NASA Johnson Space Center, USRA

Jacob Bloomberg, Ph.D., NASA Johnson Space Center

Current Projects

Skill Acquisition

The main focus of our laboratory is on understanding the behavioral and neural mechanisms of skill learning. We are interested in how and what people learn, how transfer of learning occurs, and how these processes are affected by aging.

FMRI studies of skill acquisition

These projects are designed to determine the brain regions that are associated with early and late components of sequence learning and sensorimotor adaptation, and how they change with age. This work is supported by a U-M Rackham faculty grant, an FMRI Center pilot grant, a Research Career Development award from the U-M NIH Pepper Center, and the NIH. Collaborators include Doug Noll, Patti Reuter-Lorenz, and Dan Willingham.

Behavioral studies of skill acquisition

These studies are designed to determine the underlying cognitive processes contributing to sequence learning and sensorimotor adaptation, and how they change with age. This work is supported by a Research Career Development award and the Human Subjects Core from the U-M NIH Pepper Center and the NIH. Collaborators include Patti Reuter-Lorenz and Dan Willingham.

EEG study of skill acquisition

In this experiment, we are determining the relationship between medial frontal negativity and error mechanisms in sensorimotor adaptation. This work is in collaboration with Bill Gehring.

Skill learning in musicians

These projects are utilizing musical training as a model for expertise. We are testing whether musicians trained from a young age exhibit advantages in various types of motor learning. This work is in collaboration with John Jonides, and is supported by the Dana Foundation (Jonides).

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Aging and Bimanual Coordination

In this series of experiments, we are looking at the relationship between aging, structural changes in the corpus callosum, bimanual coordination, and functional patterns of brain recruitment.

Bimanual coordination in older adults

This experiment tests older and younger adults on discrete and continuous bimanual coordination tasks, which rely on differing neural mechanisms for synchronization of the two hands. This work is in collaboration with Patti Reuter-Lorenz. The project is supported by a grant from the U-M OVPR, and the following U-M NIH Pepper Center Cores: Pilot Grants, Research Career Development, and Human Subjects.

Functional and structural brain changes with age for the performance of cognitive and motor behaviors

These experiments examine whether bilateral brain recruitment patterns, often observed in older adults, are seen for both cognitive and motor tasks, and whether they are related to structural measures of the corpus callosum. This work is in collaboration with Patti Reuter-Lorenz, Doug Noll, and Robert Welsh. The project is supported by a grant from the U-M OVPR, and the following U-M NIH Pepper Center Cores: Pilot Grants, Research Career Development, and Human Subjects.

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Timing

These studies, which form the basis of Ashley Bangert’s dissertation, are exploring the underlying mechanisms contributing to temporal processes. Experiments are designed in an effort to determine whether timing seems to rely more on one unified mechanism for short and long intervals, as well as for temporal estimation and production.

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Your Kinesiology Connection

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