Department of Movement Sciences

The department consists of five research groups with a different focus, but each contributing to the optimization of health, well-being and quality of life in society through physical activity, and to performance improvement in a wide range of physical activities and sports.The central focus of the Laboratory of Motor Control is the study of the organization and control of human movement with particular emphasis on the interaction between afferent and efferent processes. Changes in the control structure as a result of practice and experience are also investigated. Movement coordination is addressed from a multidisciplinary perspective including kinesiology and behavioural neuroscience (Laboratory of Motor Control). Research focuses attention on the cardiorespiratory and metabolic adaptations to exercise and training. Research questions are ad- dressed using both studies on humans as well as animal experimental models. Furthermore the effects of nutrition and physiological ergogenic aids on physical performance are investigated. Finally, the role of growth, maturation and ageing on cardiorespiratory fitness is evaluated (Laboratory of Exercise Physiology). Research is focused on muscle mechanics, in which the relationships between muscle force production and factors such as electromyographic activity, muscle length and contraction velocity are examined. These relationships are used to develop muscle models to understand - and optimize - human movement. The optimizations are applied to sports, especially to athletics and swimming laboratory of Biomechanics. Analyses in house and in the field evaluate, for example, physical strain in the neck-shoulder and lower back working environments, gait in patient populations, broadband communication for people who are motor impaired, the efficiency of human movement in wheelchair operation, and ergonomics of assistive devices, using electromyography, movement registration and force plate technologies. Further studies apply ergonomics to work techniques and professional skills (Laboratory of Ergonomics).