Understanding human movement, sensing and cognition for learning and health

Project lead: Dr Genevieve Williams

Characteristics of a person’s movement, sensing, and cognition directly relate to underlying neuro-physiological processes. Therefore, changes in these processes tend to be strong indicators of many health conditions and performance levels. Our work investigates characteristics of movement, sensing and cognition to understand health and performance.

We are taking an inter- and multi- disciplinary approach with Engineering, Psychology, Mathematics and Epidemiology to measure specific characteristics of movement (ie catching, swinging or walking), sensing (ie visual gaze and proprioception) and cognition (ie perception-action coupling) to understand health and performance problems. From this work we can start to develop diagnostic tools for health and performance measures for movement and sports.

Related publications:

Taleshi N, Brownjohn JMW, Lamb SE, Zivanovic S, Williams GKR (2022). Vector coding reveals the underlying balance control strategies used by humans during translational perturbation. Sci Rep, 12(1).
Jack J, Woodgates A, Smail O, Felix B, Lynam K, Lester A, Williams G, Bond B (In Press). Cerebral blood flow regulation is not acutely altered after a typical number of headers in women footballers. Frontiers in Neurology, Neurotrauma.
Brown N, Williams GKR, Stodter A, McNarry MA, Roldan-Reoyo O, Mackintosh KA, Moore IS, Williams EMP (2023). A Global Women’s Rugby Union Web-Based Survey. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(8), 5475-5475.
Farana R, Williams G, Fujihara T, Wyatt HE, Naundorf F, Irwin G (2023). Current issues and future directions in gymnastics research: biomechanics, motor control and coaching interface. Sports Biomechanics, 22(2), 161-185.
Brtva P, Irwin G, Williams GKR, Farana R (2023). Upper limb biomechanics and dynamics of a core skill on floor exercise in female gymnastics. J Sports Sci, 41(1), 27-35.
Xu X, Hu G, Williams G, ma F (2022). Gender Comparisons and Associations between Lower Limb Muscle Activation Strategies and Resultant Knee Biomechanics during Single Leg Drop Landings. Journal of Biomechanics, 2, 562-574.
Arthur T, Brosnan M, Harris D, Buckingham G, Wilson M, Williams G, Vine S (2022). Investigating how Explicit Contextual Cues Affect Predictive Sensorimotor Control in Autistic Adults. J Autism Dev Disord
Amirpourabasi A, Lamb SE, Chow JY, Williams GKR (2022). Nonlinear Dynamic Measures of Walking in Healthy Older Adults: a Systematic Scoping Review. Sensors, 22(12), 4408-4408.
Słowiński P, Baldemir H, Wood G, Alizadehkhaiyat O, Coyles G, Vine S, Williams G, Tsaneva-Atanasova K, Wilson M (2019). Gaze training supports self-organization of movement coordination in children with developmental coordination disorder. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 1712-1712
Vicinanza D, Newell KM, Irwin G, Smith L, Williams GKR (2018). Limit cycle dynamics of the gymnastics longswing. Human Movement Science, 57, 217-226.
Williams G, Aggio D, Stubbs B, Pardhan S, Gardner B, Smith L (2018). Physical activity levels in children with sensory problems: Cross-sectional analyses from the Millennium Cohort Study. Disability and Health Journal, 11(1), 58-61.
Neely KA, Chennavasin AP, Yoder A, Williams GKR, Loken E, Huang-Pollock CL (2016). Memory-guided force output is associated with self-reported ADHD symptoms in young adults. Experimental Brain Research, 234(11), 3203-3212.