The Movement Science group investigates the impact of movement-based knowledge on physical and cognitive development in children, adults, the elderly, and patients with diseases affecting the central nervous system. Movement-based knowledge, “embodied cognition” or “enactive knowledge,” is based on the notion that a major source of organization in both physical and mental activity is the richness of our perceptual motor experience. That is, our physical interaction with the environment in which we live. The emerging field of movement-based knowledge asserts that mental function (how the mind works, grows, and develops) is naturally and routinely affected by interactions between the mind and the body, and between the mind, the body, and the environment. In plain terms, how we move (action) in our world and how we learn to move influence what we know and how we know it. Movement-based knowledge is an important emerging interdisciplinary field, embracing Kinesiology, Psychology, Philosophy, Neuroscience, human-computer research and development.

The Movement Science faculty, with its established research record in motor development, perception-action, and neuroscience, is well positioned to exploit opportunities in this new emerging field of study, provided that adequate resources are made available.

The role of perception and motor control in adult performance in both natural and technological environments. This research blends basic science with applied domains in understanding how coordination and control permit the integration of movement and the performance of skilled perceptual and cognitive tasks.

The development of motor control and adaptive behavior across the lifespan in patients with neurological damage (e.g., dystonia, Parkinson’s disease, Cerebellar ataxia).

The role of perceptual-motor development in children with coordination disorders; for example, how coordination disorders may impact perceptual and cognitive development, including academic performance and the development of social skills.

Changes in perceptual-motor abilities as a function of aging, and their impact on activities of daily living, such as driving, and the prevention of falling in the elderly.

In addition to its interdisciplinary focus, this initiative encompasses a strong international connection. One of the principle theorists in movement-based knowledge, Francisco Varella, a European scholar, has been the impetus for a number of well-funded research projects that have a strong international flavor, including the Enactive Network of Excellence, of which Dr. Stoffregen is a part. This and other, similar programs support research collaborations between scientists in Europe, Japan, and North America.

March 2009