Playing the piano, swinging a golf club, typing words on a computer - what do all these activities have in common? Physiologically, each requires the careful coordination of different movements by both limbs to complete the task. This is bimanual coordination, and we have Dr. Deanna Kennedy in the studio to talk about it! Join us for a talk on the very basics of human performance, and how completion of even the smallest tasks is an impressive physiological feat! LISTEN NOW! 

Have you ever tried to pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time? Not so easy is it?! Find out why when you read the weekly text article by Ms. Deanna Kennedy titled "Between Limb Interference: How Smart is Your Right Foot?" "It is well recognized that coordination is a fundamental aspect of skill related fitness. After all, many sports require some type of coordination between the limbs. Serving a tennis ball, for example, requires one limb to toss the ball while the ot...

Muscle fatigue is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon and is most commonly defined as the inability to maintain a required force level after prolonged used of the muscle. The contributors to voluntary fatigue, henceforth referred to simply as fatigue, may be either peripheral or central, or both. Isolating the muscle or the brain in separate investigations can offer only a partial understanding of the mechanisms underlying the development of fatigue.Huffines Affiliate and Director of the NeuroErg...

Recent research findings indicate that with older adulthood, there are functional decrements in spatial cognition and more specially, in the ability to mentally represent and effectively plan motor actions. A typical finding is a significant over- or underestimation of one's actual physical abilities with movement planning- planning that has implications for movement efficiency and physical safety. A practical, daily life example is estimation of reachability- a situation for the elderly may...

Read the weekly text article "Motor Output Variability in Older Adults" by Deanna Kennedy. "Often athletic performance seeks to improve accuracy and consistency. For example, while playing golf, we want to consistently hit the ball into the hole. However, many factors affect our ability to produce smooth and accurate movements."

Read the weekly text article "Improving Goal-Directed Limb Movement: Don't Overthink This!" by Jason Boyle. "Our nervous system is highly adaptable in perceiving, analyzing and executing movements in relation to an ever-changing perceptual environment. We use vision, knowledge of limb location, and anticipation of force production while simultaneously recognizing variability in our judgment to execute movements through the world around us."

New article for the week, "My Racket Can't Find the Ball," by Priscila Cacola. Check out why Priscila can't seem to get her racket to find the ball. Have you ever wondered why a child learning to strike with a tennis racquet has trouble “finding” the ball....

This week's article is focused on "Control of Wrist and Arm Movements at Varying Difficulties" by Jason Boyle. Our muscles are controlled by “motor units”, which each consist of a neuron, and the muscle fiber(s) it activates or “innervates”. The muscle that responds is termed an “effector”. Brain mapping studies have shown that a disproportionate area of the motor cortex governs certain effectors of the body.