X

The Motor Behavior Lab

Director: Yuhua Li

The Motor Behavior Lab, located in 131 Fieldhouse, provides a variety of motor performance testing resources for faculty and students in the College of Health Sciences to study motor behavior and motor skill learning. The lab is equipped with a BioPac MP 35 data acquisition system for recording Electroencephalograms (EEG), Electromyograms (EMG), force-production, and movement acceleration. In addition it has other psychomotor test equipment, as well as computers and software. Researchers in this lab study how people learn and control movement skills such as those used in sports, industrial, medical, and instructional settings as well as ordinary life situations.

Faculty and students in the lab conduct basic and applied research using an interdisciplinary approach to explore the movement patterns and the underlying processes related to skill acquisition and control of movement. The research techniques employed come from the areas of psychology, physiology and biomechanics. Attention, memory, perception, feedback, and practice variables that affect the learning and control of motor skills are examined with a behavioral emphasis. Collaborative research in human performance are encouraged.
Mission

To provide a research and educational facility and the resources for studying motor learning, control, and development. To achieve national recognition by using state-of-the-art instrumentation to investigate behavior and neural processes underlying human motor skill performance and learning.
Research Project

Basic research – Relationship between movement-related cortical potentials and practice conditions in motor skill learning.

Applied research – Effects of exercise intervention on motor development of school children. Effects of balance training on improvement of stability and fall prevention for the elderly; Balance test and evaluations related to concussion assessment and management programs.