Sanaz Khosravani, Phd, a former doctoral student in the School of Kinesiology’s Human Sensorimotor Control Lab (HSCL), is first author on a new study that investigated theeffect of neck Botulinum neurotoxin injection on proprioception and somatosensory-motor cortical processing in cervical dystonia (CD).
CD is a neurological movement disorder characterized by involuntary contractions of the cervical musculature. It is known to be associated with proprioceptive dysfunction, which is the dysfunction in a patients’ ability to sense stimuli arising within the body regarding position, motion, and equilibrium. Injection of the neurotoxin Botulinum (BoNT) into the neck muscles is a main treatment to reduce CD symptoms temporarily. This study found that neck BoNT injections normalized the cortical processing of proprioceptive information, indicating that local injections in a dystonic muscle affect the central mechanisms of proprioceptive function in cervical dystonia.
Konczak collaborated with a team of German neurologists on this project. He was a unique contributor in this article as a bilingual speaker who works in the field and assisted in making sensible translations.
“It was actually a quite laborious process,” Konczak noted. “We translated English to German, and then the German version was translated back into English by another person and then the U.S.-based clinical scientists examined by the original creators of the inventory.”
The Cerebellar Cognitive Affective/Schmahmann Syndrome (CCAS) scale is a short and easy applicable bedside test to screen for cerebellar diseases that might also be associated with deficits in motor control and motor learning. It is currently only available in American English, this article presents a German version of the scale and the study protocol of its ongoing validation in a German-speaking patient cohort.
School of Kinesiology Sport Management lecturer, Clinton Warren, was recently quoted in The Athletic, in an article titled “Teams get creative to preserve season ticket relationships (and money) for 2021.”
The article reports on the difficult time that many professional sports organizations are having when it comes to ticket sales, and the creative solutions they are implementing to try to overcome the lack of fans in stands this season. Warren, who specializes in sport business strategy and marketing management, sport sales and service innovation, and sport fundraising, offered his thoughts on the difficulty of the situation.
“It is without question an immensely difficult time for ticket sales staffs,” said Clinton Warren, a sports management lecturer at the University of Minnesota. “Most teams are trying to find ways to keep their fans and clients engaged with their ticket accounts while providing deferred or flexible payment options.”
The article goes on to report the many creative solutions that sales teams are implementing to keep their relationship with fans, and to supplement lost income of ticket sales.
Daheia Barr-Anderson, PhD, associate professor with the School of Kinesiology has been awarded two grants to fund formative assessment focus groups to refine and implement two interventions.
The publication suggests that vascular imaging is possible during open heart surgery and may guide certain procedures. This is the first case series reported to measure intima media thickness during congenital heart surgery.
The overall purpose of this interdisciplinary research training program in child and adolescent primary care is to equip health care professionals with the capacity to conduct primary care research that advances evidence-based practices and policies for creating health equity and improving life trajectory for young people. The training program brings together trainees and faculty from diverse disciplines including Medicine, Public Health, Dentistry, Nursing, Psychology, Nutrition, Social Work, and Education.
Postdoctoral fellow in the School of Kinesiology, Christiana Raymond-Pope, PhD is the lead author of an article entitled “Assessing agreement of lateral leg muscle and bone composition using dual X-ray absorptiometry” in the Journal of Clinical Densitometry.
This study examined a newly developed method of measuring upper leg anterior/posterior compartmental composition using a Hologic Horizon A dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Unlike a previous study in which agreement of lateral vs frontal leg composition measurements of equal area was reported utilizing the GE Lunar iDXA, agreement was not observed using the Hologic Horizon A DXA scanner. Therefore, lateral view assessment may not be reliably performed on DXA scanner models produced by different manufacturers.
Co-authors of the article include: Don Dengel, PhD, a professor of kinesiology and director of the Laboratory of Integrative Human Physiology (LIHP) and School of Kinesiology graduate, Tyler Bosch, PhD.
Ethan Wolf, School of Kinesiology MS in sport and exercise psychology student, and member of the Sport Medicine Psychology Laboratory (SMPL), recently received a 2020 Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) Student Conference Abstract Grant for his project, “Relationships between pre-match sleep, in-match running metrics, and post-match wellness perceptions among women’s collegiate club soccer midfielders.” Co-authors of the paper include fellow students Jeff Frykholm and Kaija Eckholm, postdoctoral researcher Chase Straw, and Wolfe’s adviser and director of the SMPL, professor Diane Wiese-Bjornstal, PhD.
The AASP Foundation created the Student Abstract Awards to help student members who wish to attend the (virtual) AASP 2020 Annual Conference and present their work. A total of 20 awards at $250 USD each are sponsored by Routledge/Taylor & Francis this year. Wolfe will be presenting a poster at the AASP conference in October representing collaborative interdisciplinary work with other members of the SMPL.
Donald R. Dengel, PhD, professor of kinesiology and director of the Laboratory of Integrative Human Physiology (LIHP), is a co-author of the article “Cerebral blood flow characteristics following hemodialysis initiation in older adults: A prospective longitudinal pilot study using arterial spin labeling imaging” in the journal NeuroImage: Clinical.
The study reported that after 6 months of hemodialysis there was a significant decline in cerebral blood flow. The declines in cerebral blood flow after the start of hemodialysis was associated with changes in Modified Mini-Mental State Examination scores. The data from this study suggests that the decrease in brain perfusion noted in hemodialysis patients may contribute to the observed cognitive decline noted in these patients.
The conference featured “driving simulation specialists from the industrial and academic communities as well as commercial simulation.” Stoffregen gave an invited keynote address titled, “Motion sickness in physical and virtual systems.” The presentation was given virtually.
Join the School of Kinesiology in welcoming new assistant professor, Rachel Hawe, DPT, PhD. Dr. Hawe will specialize in Biomechanics and Neuromotor Control at the School of Kinesiology. Hawe received her bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. Following the completion of her undergraduate degree, Dr. Hawe earned her doctorate of physical therapy and PhD in biomedical engineering from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. After her time at Northwestern, Hawe worked as a post doctoral fellow at the University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta, CA. There, Dr. Hawe examined neural injury recovery using robotics and neuroimaging.
Once she arrives in the fall, Hawe looks forward to continuing her research and is particularly excited about the potential to connect with other units at the University. “I’m really looking forward to all the great collaborations that are possible, said Hawe. The University checks all the boxes in terms of potential collaborators within the School of Kinesiology as well as departments outside of the School like Physical Therapy, Engineering and the Medical School.
This upcoming fall semester, Hawe is teaching KIN 3135:Introduction to Motor Learning and Control and is excited to learn more about the interests of her students. “What’s nice about this course is that it has so much carryover into where students might want to go in the future. I look forward to learning more about my students and developing new courses for students who want to gain exposure in clinical populations,” says Hawe.
Dr. Hawe’s research focuses on how one recovers from neural injuries, primarily stroke. Hawe analyzes strokes that occur in both adults and children, and is specifically interested in how these populations regain arm control. She utilizes both robotics and neuroimaging as a way to gain a deeper understanding of the connection between a patient’s physical movement and changes in the brain. “Unfortunately right now, we don’t have great precision medicine in the rehab world,” Hawe said. “The goal of my research is to better understand and quantify the issues people are having, so we can tailor therapy to a patient’s specific needs.”
In her free time, Hawe enjoys spending time outdoors and is looking forward to exploring the biking and hiking trails in Minnesota. She has completed four Ironman triathlons, and is excited to become part of the triathlon community here in the Twin Cities.
Welcome to the School, Dr. Hawe. We are thrilled to have you join our KINmunity
Thomas Stoffregen, PhD, professor in the School of Kinesiology and director of the Affordance Perception-Action Laboratory (APAL), recently published an article titled “Perception of Affordances for Vertical and Horizontal Jumping in Children: Gymnasts Versus Non-Athletes” in the journal Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. Read the abstract here.
Co-authors of the publication include visiting APAL scholars, Nurtekin Erkmen, PhD and Alper Tunga Peker, PhD. Erkmen was a visiting scholar from August 2015 to August 2016 and Peker from August 2019 to August 2020.
The School of Kinesiology, housed in the College of Education and Human Development, is home to 14 different labs and centers. Each one has a specific research and/or outreach focus, and regularly engages in studies and produces research journal publications. Graduate students involved in School of Kinesiology programs are active participants in this work, using the lab settings to help shape and complete their research and thesis work.
Kinesiology MS student Daniel Hoffman is pictured here in the Skeletal Muscle Plasticity and Regeneration Lab (SMPRL)
Daniel Hoffman, a Kinesiology MS student with an emphasis area in exercise physiology, has spent the majority of his graduate education experience working in the Skeletal Muscle Plasticity and Regeneration Lab (SMPRL), directed by Sarah Greising, PhD, a School of Kinesiology assistant professor in exercise physiology. For Hoffman, the time in the lab has been an invaluable experience.
“Near the end of my first semester, I decided to reach out to Dr. Greising to see if I could observe what was going on in her lab,” Hoffman said. “In retrospect, that was the most impactful email I have sent since coming here.”
Hoffman’s interaction with Dr. Greising changed the course of his graduate school career. He spoke highly of the advantages of both her mentorship and the ability to be an active participant in her research.
“Honestly, without the time in the lab, I don’t know how I would even have a thesis idea,” Hoffman said. “I’ve been able to participate in so many things, and see the work done first hand.”
Hoffman is scheduled to present his thesis via Zoom next month. He’s chosen to tackle questions regarding pathologic skeletal muscle fibrosis caused by traumatic injury. Hoffman said his hands-on experience in the lab has not only allowed him to make significant progress on his degree, but it’s also opened his eyes to potential future career opportunities.
“When I first started out I wasn’t really sure what options were going to be available to me after I graduated,” Hoffman said. “I knew I needed more than a BS to stay in this field, but I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go. The skills I’ve learned in the lab can be applied to many different career paths and I feel like I’ve learned so much from that experience alone.”
He noted that even if he chooses to venture outside of academia, there are plenty of career options available to him with his newfound knowledge and skills learned in the lab setting.
Hoffman said one of his favorite things about getting to work regularly in the lab is that he has now been a part of all of the processes he previously only read about.
“The best thing about it is that you get to do every step in the process,” Hoffman said. “Before, I might have read about data collected and then try to implement it into a study. But now, I can run the experiment myself; I’m doing everything from collecting tissue samples to testing them to interpreting the results. There are so many things that can go wrong, so it can be frustrating, but it’s really rewarding when it goes well.”
Hoffman plans to continue on to get his PhD in Kinesiology in the School of Kinesiology, and continue his research work with Dr. Greising. His advice to new students is, “Don’t be shy, and reach out to the faculty members that you’re interested in. They will be open to having conversations with you, and it will help you figure out what kind of research you want to do, which is really important.” This leads to his most important piece of advice for students who are considering a graduate program: “Make sure you’re passionate about your interests. Grad school is a lot of work, but it’s really rewarding if it’s what you want to do.”
The article was published in Ergonomics, and examined postural sway before participants were exposed to a virtual vehicle presented via a Head-Mounted Display. Typically, drivers are less likely to become sick than passengers, and men are less likely to become sick than women. The researchers showed that postural precursors of motion sickness were influenced by both of these factors, simultaneously; a novel finding.
This publication continues the Affordance Perception-Action Laboratory’s work in researching cybersickness in head-mounted displays. This research is specifically tied to virtual reality, a rapidly advancing field with numerous emerging applications in training, education, rehabilitation, healthcare, social communications, and entertainment.
In this study, Christopher Curry was supported by the National Science Foundation [NRT-1734815]. Dr. Stoffregen was supported by the National Science Foundation [CHS-1901423]
From Left to Right: Christopher Curry, Ruixuan Li, PhD, Nicolette Peterson, and Thomas Stoffregen, PhD
The aim of this study was to examine the effect of weight status on underserved elementary school children’s physical activity and sedentary behavior throughout the segmented day. Findings suggested that significantly higher moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was observed for children of healthy weight status versus children with overweight/obesity during morning recess, after school, and overall.
Interestingly, comparisons of children of healthy weight status and children with overweight/obesity’s light physical activity and sedentary behavior during the after-school segment revealed a trend wherein children with overweight/obesity participated in slightly greater light physical activity /less sedentary behavior than children of healthy weight status. Higher moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was observed among children of healthy weight versus children with overweight/obesity during most daily segments. Concerted efforts should focus on increasing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity among children with overweight/obesity.
Ceapro Inc., a Canadian growth-stage biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of active ingredients for healthcare and cosmetic industries, found the results of Ji’s study to be especially promising for future research in this field. They are quoted in a press release stating that “These studies, while they were conducted using avenanthramides in food, provide a solid foundation for our research team as they move forward and conduct a safety and bioavailability study using proprietary, pure pharmaceutical-grade powder formulation of avenanthramides. The safety and bioavailability study will evaluate avenanthramides as a stand-alone therapy or potentially in combination with carriers recently developed using our PGX technology to address some inflammation-based diseases, which we believe shows great promise.”
Mary Jo Kane, PhD, Director Emerita and founder of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport
Mary Jo Kane, PhD, a professor emerita in the School of Kinesiology and director emerita of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport, was featured in the University of Minnesota’s Legacy Magazine’s Summer 2020 issue. The article, “Leveling the Field,” highlights Kane’s groundbreaking work in supporting girls’ and women’s ability to have safe and fair access to sports, and notes her own committed estate gift to the Tucker Center.
To help ensure the future work of the Tucker Center, Kane made the estate gift to establish the David and Janie Kane Endowed Tucker Center Director Fund, which honors her late siblings. “David and Janie were incredibly proud of my accomplishments, and the Tucker Center reflects their passions,” she says. “This gift is a way to honor their memories and carry forward our family name.”
This feasibility study investigated whether a year-long combined wristband-based and personalized exercise prescription intervention would improve breast cancer survivors’ health outcomes. In this study, Gao collaborated with his colleagues from Guangdong General Hospital, in China. Ninety-five breast cancer survivors were recruited from the Southern region of China and were delivered the exercise intervention across 12 months, using a single-group pretest-posttest design. Participants’ lipid profile (e.g., total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, and triglycerides), blood glucose, breast cancer biomarkers (e.g., carcinoembryonic antigen and cancer antigen 15-3), and functional fitness (e.g., strength in arms and legs, endurance, balance, agility, and flexibility) were assessed at baseline and 12-month post-intervention. The results suggested that the behavioral change program might promote certain health outcomes, such as blood glucose, agility and balance, aerobic endurance, lower-body flexibility, in Chinese breast cancer survivors.
Members of the Human Sensorimotor Control Laboratory, directed by School of Kinesiology professor Jürgen Konczak, published two papers from the 2020 Design of Medical Devices Conference, in the Frontiers of Biomedical Devices conference proceedings journal on July 27, 2020.
Their paper titled A System for the Objective Assessment of Hand Proprioceptive Function in Pediatric and Adult Populations, presents a new tablet-based system that objectively measures proprioceptive signals. Proprioceptive signals are essential for the control of muscle tone and voluntary movement. Numerous neurological and orthopedic disorders are associated with proprioceptive dysfunction that impairs the control of balance and/or fine motor function. However, obtaining objective measures of proprioceptive function is difficult in most clinical settings, because available assessment methods rely on specialized equipment, expertise, or are too time-consuming. The published paper provides initial data that demonstrates the ease-of-use and efficacy of the system.
Publishing lab members are Jinseok Oh, Arash Mahnan, Jiapeng Xu, Jessica Holst-Wolf, Hannah Block, and Jürgen Konczak.
Their paper titled, A New System to Objectively Measure Ankle Proprioception, presents a system with a novel hardware design that applies an established psychometric testing protocol that generates a Just-Noticeable-Difference threshold as a measure of ankle proprioceptive acuity at the end of testing. Ankle proprioceptive testing provides essential feedback for maintaining balance. Currently, there is no widely accepted test or measurement system available for determining the proprioceptive accuracy of the human ankle joint. This assessment has the potential to become a tool for clinicians to identify proprioceptive impairment at the ankle and to assess the efficacy of sensorimotor interventions for improving balance in clinical populations.
Publishing lab members are Arash Mahnan, Jessica Holst-Wolf, and Jürgen Konczak.
Pictured (top left to bottom right): Jinseok Oh, Arash Mahnan, Jiapeng Xu, Jessica Holst-Wolf, PhD, and Jürgen Konczak, PhD
