The typical age-related decline in proprioception at the ankle is not observed when older adults are physically active. This work adds to the growing body of empirical evidence showing what physiological aspects of sensorimotor function are preserved when someone is physically active in aging.

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Proprioceptive decline is accelerated in Parkinson's disease. This  decline is associated with muscular rigidity, a major motor symptom of Parkinson's disease that is not well treated with current medications.

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Dyad practice of complex motor skills, characterized by two learners alternative between physical and observational practice, can yield better motor outcomes and reduce practice time compared to physical practice alone. Participants used a wrist-robotic device as a joystick in a gamified environment as an interventional strategy. We found that the gamified wrist robotic intervention can improve somatosensory function up to 24 hours after a gamified intervention. This improvement was not driven by the dyad group, but rather by the high intensity practice group who showed the largest gains.

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Chronic low back pain affects the quality of life of 52 million adults and medication has limited efficacy. We used Qigong practice as an intervention to improve low back pain. My role involved monitoring proprioceptive changes before and after a 12-week intervention using the Ankle Proprioceptive Acuity Device. 

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Tremors are oscillatory movements that are typically thought of as the result of neurological disorder such as Parkinson's disease or Essential tremor. Healthy individuals have tremor with have different properties than those present in neurological disorders. There have been two types of tremor described previously, one during hand posture and one during slow movements. In this study, we found that this tremor may actually be of a common origin. Better understanding these components of healthy individuals helps us understand when tremors become part of the diseased state. This work is in collaboration with Drs. Mark Hallett, Patrick McGurrin, and Debra Ehrlich and was conducted in the Movement Disorders Lab, National Institute of Neurological Disorders, National Institutes of Health.

Pre-print coming soon

Reactive balance control is critical for recovering from unexpected balance disturbances, particularly in aging populations. Ongoing cortical beta power may be modulating sensorimotor processing—influencing balance recovery —in neurotypical adults. However, people after stroke don't seem to share this same ability to modulate cortical activity.

Abstract presented at the
American Society for Neurorehabilitation 2025 scientific congress