Neuromechanics & Applied Locomotion Lab
Daily life requires walking in a wide variety of situations. We walk in open spaces, but also crowded hallways. We walk in straight lines, except when we don't. We walk and talk and think all at the same time! Our research focuses on understanding how we perform these common, yet complex, locomotor tasks.
About the Lab
Improving Mobility Using a Multi-disciplinary Approach
Situated within the Cognitive and Motor Neuroscience research theme, we concentrate on the intersection of biomechanics and neural control during real-world locomotion to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and functional rehabilitation of populations with impaired mobility. Towards this goal, we study populations with traumatically induced injury (e.g., concussion) or neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Parkinson’s disease) to understand how physiological changes influence balance and gait. We value collaborations with engineers, clinicians, physical therapists, and neuroscientists to synthesize and apply our knowledge of locomotion and balance to improve people's lives.
Research Areas
Our research is grounded in mechanistic studies of balance and locomotor control to gather an idea of how people move throughout the world without falling and how brain injuries affect this control. We then implement digital health technologies, like wearable inertial sensors and virtual reality, to assess mobility in ecologically-relevant settings including continuous monitoring of daily life and to translate our knowledge into clinically-feasible protocols to quantify human mobility. Finally, we use these pillars – a fundamental knowledge of the biomechanics and neural control of mobility and new digital health approaches – to improve physical therapy interventions for people with impaired mobility after brain injury.
Stability During Walking and Standing
Humans are inherently unstable - we resemble an inverted pendulum that is constantly falling over. Humans use a variety of strategies to stay upright, including using torque about the ankles or hips when standing, controlling the placement of their foot when walking, and even using their arms to provide a stabilizing counter-rotation. Our work probes how individuals maintain stability and -in the event of perturbations- regain stability.
Example: We actively control where we place our foot when walking over uneven ground. For example, we may modify where we place our foot if we see an uneven patch of ground or an upcoming rock. Using a custom mechanized shoe, we study how individuals use different information to control their foot placement and regulate stability during walking and turning. We've found that while it is important to know when a perturbation will occur and to have enough time to prepare, knowing what you will encounter is most important to improving your balance recovery.
Ecologically-Relevant Locomotion
While most gait research has considered straight gait, we do not walk in a straight line with no added tasks. Simultaneous cognitive tasks and turns are commonplace in everyday locomotion and may pose a greater risk of adverse events. Using ecologically-relevant tasks and virtual reality, our work examines the biomechanics and neural control of turning and other complex tasks such as dual-tasking and navigating while walking. We examine how people walk around complex environments and how neurological injury or disease affects these common, yet complex, tasks representative of daily living.
Example: People with chronic mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) turn their bodies slower when walking along a winding path. While people with mTBI also tend to walk slower than healthy individuals, only turning outcomes related to self-reported complaints of headache, nausea, and other somatic symptoms, suggesting a sought-after link between self-reported symptoms and mobility may reside in turning and non-straight gait.
Inertial Sensors for Clinical Gait and Balance Assessments
Inertial sensors are becoming increasingly popular for gait and mobility analysis. Our work uses inertial sensors to probe clinical questions in a more objective way using both commercial and in-house algorithms.
Example: Inertial sensors can capture objective measures of reactive responses - an important component of balance that enables us to regain balance after a loss of stability. We are using inertial sensors to quantify reactive balance in NCAA collegiate athletes to better understand musculoskeletal injury risk and concussion recovery. Our results indicate that the longer someone takes to recover their balance, quantified using inertial sensors, the higher the risk for future musculoskeletal injury.
Clinical Interventions to Improve Mobility
Restoring mobility after neurological injury involves targeted physical therapy and exercise-based interventions. Our multidisciplinary approach incorporates biofeedback and perturbation-based programs, in collaboration with researchers across the country, to improve our rehabilitation programs to maximize the benefits of exercise-based interventions on balance and mobility.
Example: Real-time biofeedback can provide objective information about a patient's movements during physical therapy. We are using wearable sensors to provide both real-time biofeedback about head and body movements during rehabilitation for persisting balance impairments after mild traumatic brain injury.
Decision Models that Describe Locomotion
How we move is often governed by a series of decisions that includes evaluations of our own abilities, potential goals (e.g., etting to our destination on time), and potential harmful events (e.g., falls). Our research examines how locomotor behaviors are influenced by our assessments of risk based on perceptions of possible consequences and our own ability levels.
Example: We manipulated the perceived consequences of falling off a walkway using virtual reality to mimic physical walkways with difference surrounding environments (e.g., high heights) to simulate threats. When walking in these virtual environments, people adopt locomotor behaviors that are consistent with behavioral risk models, where changes in the locomotor path and balance control reduce the probability of falling off the exposed edge of the walkway.
Outreach
We have been a proud participant in National Biomechanics Day (NBD) since 2019. National Biomechanics Day is a worldwide celebration of biomechanics, the breakthrough science of the 21st century!
In addition to our annual participation in National Biomechanics Day, we have partnered with the Promoting Access throughout High School Program (PATHS). Together, we host in-person and virtual events to showcase our research and introduce high school students to the field of biomechanics, neuroscience, and motor control.
Joining the Lab
Graduate Students
We are always seeking motivated graduate students to join our team. Please read about admission requirements for the Department of Health & Kinesiology. We also accept students from a variety of other programs across the University of Utah, including the Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Rehabilitation Science, and the Neuroscience Program. Applications are due in December of each year, and new students typically start the following fall. We encourage interested students to contact Dr. Fino to inquire about assistantships.
Undergraduate Students
We actively encourage undergraduate research in the Neuromechanics & Applied Locomotion Lab. Undergraduate students who have a particular interest in biomechanics, motor control, and rehabilitation can engage in mentored research projects. Undergraduates who are interested in either summer research or research throughout an academic year should contact Dr. Fino with a summary of their research interests and their other time commitments. Interested students should be prepared to devote at least 10 hours per week to research.
Contact Us
HPER East, 260 1850 E
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
