Clinical Movement Sciences Laboratory

The laboratory is directed by Associate Professor Robert C. Wagenaar, PhD. Dr. Wagenaar’s research interests are coordination dynamics (e.g., the influence of perceptual disorders on motor behavior), and the effects of rehabilitation methods on disabilities of neurologically disabled persons and individuals with cardiopulmonary disorders. Current projects include the development of dynamical models for human walking and the evaluation of the efficacy of physical therapy interventions (e.g., external (auditory), rhythms in patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease, forced use of upper extremity function in stroke patients, and pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorders.

This laboratory is designed to study coordination dynamics, biomechanics, and dynamics of physiological systems (e.g., heart and lungs). The lab is equipped with a Silicon Graphics workstation connected to a video projection system, the OPTOTRAK motion analysis system, force plates, and an impedance cardiography system.

Collaborative research is conducted at Boston Medical Center, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, the Department of Exercise Science, University of Massachusetts (Amherst); the Research Institute for Fundamental and Clinical Human Movement Sciences (Amsterdam); and various other research groups at other universities (Groningen, Nijmegen, and Maastricht) in the Netherlands.