Understanding changes in corticospinal excitability due to chronic resistance training and fatigue

The proposed research will allow us to determine how the human central nervous system (i.e. brain and spinal cord) functions to produce different intensities of muscle contractions with and without fatigue. We will use a variety of stimulation technics to determine how active the brain and spinal cord are during the arm contractions. We do not currently have a detailed understanding of how the brain and spinal work together during force production. Before we try to determine how the functional connections between brain and spinal cord are altered in persons with spinal cord injuries, however, we need to determine how they work in non-injured persons. The industry partner included in this proposal employs medical professionals that are interested in understanding basic nervous system function in humans. An enhanced understanding of how the nervous system works before and following fatigue in addition to increased physical activity may lead to new developments in their treatment of patients with upper and lower body injuries.

Faculty Supervisor:

Duane Button

Student:

Brandon Collins

Partner:

Lewisporte Medical Clinic

Discipline:

Kinesiology

Sector:

Medical devices

University:

Memorial University of Newfoundland