Psychology of Movement Commons^™

Obstacle Crossing In Healthy Young And Older Individuals, Hope M. Hanson, Ashlyn M. Jendro, Abigail C. Schmitt

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

Introduction: In the United States, the average population age is rising and will continue to increase in the coming years.With an older population comes increased risk of injury associated with falls. Falls are considered a leading cause of injury and death in older individuals, and many falls are caused by body imbalance or obstacle collision due to a clearly visible stationary object (e.g., rug, chair, branch). Older adults tend to cross obstacles with increased toe clearance in order to prevent tripping, but much of what is known about obstacle crossing in older adults is limited to artificial obstacles that are …

Longitudinal Sport Science Implementation In American Collegiate Men’S Basketball, Jason Stone

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The expanding opportunities to implement sport science frameworks in elite-level basketball environments coincide with the sport’s increasing global prominence. Concomitant to these opportunities is the continual growth of the sport technology market (e.g., wearables, force plates) and computational power (e.g., data management tools, coding capabilities), which yields solutions and challenges for both athletes and practitioners. Due to the rapid influx of new sport technologies in high performance environments, particularly American Collegiate Men’s Basketball, more formal and ecologically valid research on how to effectively utilize data derived from them, particularly over long periods of time (i.e., multiple seasons) is needed. To …

Characterizing Locomotor Disturbance Perception In Young Adults, Daniel James Liss

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Falls during walking are a leading cause of injuries across aging. Many of these falls are due to slips and trips. The ability to perceive disturbances to ongoing motion may play an important role in the control of walking balance. However, disturbance perception has been investigated in standing balance, but its role in walking balance due to slip- and trip-like disturbances remains largely unknown. Characterizing locomotor disturbance perception in young adults may lead to a more comprehensive understanding of sensorimotor walking balance control.

This work defined locomotor disturbance perception in response to slip and trip-like disturbances in young adults. We …

Role Of Sex Differences On Cancer Cachexia Progression And Fibrosis During Cancer Cachexia Development, Wesley Haynie

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cancer cachexia is a multifactorial wasting syndrome characterized by losses in bodymass >5% and occurs in approximately 80% of all cancer patients. Chronic inflammation and fibrosis play roles in cancer cachexia and a greater understanding of these contributing pathways to this pathology will pave the way for potential therapeutic avenues. While inflammation and fibrosis have been researched in various models of cancer cachexia, little to no studies have been performed in both sexes as most previous studies focus on males. PURPOSE The purpose of these studies is to investigate the role of fibrosis on cancer cachexia development as well as …

The Effects Of A Mirror On Cognitive Strategy And Performance Of A Muscular Endurance Task, Brianna M. Simmons

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Context: Mirrors are common-place in exercise facilities, however, the effect the mirror has on cognitive strategy (i.e., where the mind’s at) and performance time has not been examined in a muscular endurance task (i.e., a wall sit). Objective: To determine, (1) the mirror’s effect on cognitive state during a wall sit to volitional exhaustion, (2) the mirror's effect on time to volitional exhaustion during a wall sit, and (3) the mirror’s effect on the participant’s rating of perceived exertion (RPE) during the wall sit. Design: Repeated measures design. Setting: Indoor exercise facility. Participants: Twenty resistance-trained Georgia Southern University Students (9 …

Long-Term Disability Following A Hamstring Injury, Savannah Mclain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

PURPOSE: Injuries to the hamstring complex are one of the most commonly seen lower extremity injuries in athletic populations. It is currently unknown how psychological or sociological factors affect an athlete after the recovery process has ended and if these factors play a role in re-injury rates relating to the hamstring. It is also unknown if athlete confidence level changes while in a fatigued state after an athlete returns to play from a hamstring injury. METHODS: Twenty-six physically active adults with and without a previous hamstring injury were recruited for this study. Participants completed a Qualtrics survey that …

Effects Of A Strength Training Intervention And Quality Of Life: Case Study On A Sedentary Adult Female, Lucas Frazier

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of the project is to evaluate physiological and quality of life changes in a

sedentary, senior-aged (55 or older) female using a six-week strength training

intervention. This case study will instruct how to perform a push-pull-legs split

routine by going to the gym three times per week. Prior to the six week intervention,

both quantitative and qualitative variables will be collected to assess baseline data,

including the subject’s resting heart rate, resting blood pressure, grip strength, one-

repetition maximum on seven whole body exercises (dumbbell bicep curl, tricep

pushdown, barbell bench press, wide-grip lat pull-down, seated dumbbell press, …

Serum Myostatin And Igf-1 As Biomarkers Of Sarcopenia: A Proof-Of-Concept Design, Ashley Binns

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The population comprising older adults is growing exponentially, as are healthcare related costs. Nearly $20 billion is annually expensed by older adults for health-related issues affiliated with age-related decline in skeletal muscle mass. Yet, diagnostic criteria are not readily utilized in clinical practice. PURPOSE: Therefore, the purpose of this study was to provide evidence for use of blood biomarkers (myostatin, IGF-1) to predict appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) among middle-aged and older adults. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 106 individuals (n = 68 females; n = 38 males) aged ≥ 40 years of age (60.1 ± 11.1 y) …

Walking For Object Transport: An Examination Of The Coordinative Adaptations To Locomotor, Perceptual, And Manual Task Constraints, Avelino Amado

Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this dissertation was to understand how the intrinsic dynamics of gait adapt to support the performance of an ecologically relevant object transport task. A common object transport task is walking with a cup of water. Because the water can move relatively independent of the cup, the cup and water system is classified as a complex object. To model this task participants carried a cup with a wooden lid placed on top. On the lid there was a circular region with the same circumference as the cup and a ball. The object of the task was to keep …

Its Skin Is My Skin, Bryan Page

Graduate School of Art Theses

This text examines the complexity of attempting to empathize with bodies that are vastly othered from my own. This broad yet nuanced subject crosses epistemological boundaries and complicates the dualities between both the mind and body, and between the corporeal and the virtual. My desire to better understand the conditions of another’s experience originates from a painful traumatic loss which caused me to feel isolated and incomplete. In response to this suffering, I long to emotionally connect with other beings and create artwork that attempts to bridge the qualia of individual experience.

I am interested in the capacity (or lack …

Relationships Between Throwing Velocity And Selected Kinematics In Youth Baseball Players, Nick Hedgecock

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Research investigating baseball position players has been limited primarily to pitchers. The current study examined several kinematic variables and their relationship with ball velocity in middle and high school-aged baseball players using two-dimensional (2D) motion analysis. The purpose of this study was to investigate these relationships using 2D motion analysis and compare these results to those reported in the literature using 3D analysis. Thirteen baseball players (15.31 ± 1.25 yrs., 72.29 ± 10.79 kg and 177.09 ± 5.59 cm tall) participated in the study. A video camera was used to record three throwing trials for each participant. Four reflective markers …

Effects Of Direction Time Constraints And Walking Speed On Turn Strategies And Gait Adaptations In Healthy Older And Young Adults, Dennis Torre

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Hip fractures can be life-threatening, debilitating, and costly. The odds for hip fracture increases from impact of sideways falls. While turning has been strongly associated with hip fracture & sideways falls, the distinction between the risks for walking-turns as opposed to low-velocity in-place turning is not clear. The present study sought to fill a gap as previous research had not compared walking-turn performance in young & healthy older adults at low-fall risk within the same study and response-conditions of speed interacting with direction-cue time constraints. Spatial-temporal variables representative of AP braking/propulsion (i.e. stride-length & speed) & ML stability (left/right H-H …

Reliability Of Gastrocnemius Pennation Angle Using Ultrasound With 15 Degree Adduction And Abduction In Standing Position, Diana J. Tyler

Honors College Theses

A pennate muscle has fascicles that attach obliquely to its tendon. In parallel, more fascicles can be aligned allowing for greater production of force. In previous research, pennation angle has been measured using ultrasound while in a laying supine position. The purpose of this study was to measure pennation angle of the gastrocnemius muscle with ultrasound while standing neutral, in a mechanically loaded position. 16 participants, one two separate days, had their ultrasound imaging taken in three different foot orientations: neutral, fifteen degree adduction / abduction positions. This information was then be analyzed using ImageJ software. This research shows the …