Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

One of the brain's primary roles is movement. In spite of a wealth of research examining movement planning and control, we have an incomplete picture of how our environment shapes eye and limb movements and how stressors facilitate, or impede, educational-, occupational-, and sport-related movement goals. For example, how does an air traffic controller interact with complex radar handling equipment to guide one aircraft from among alternatives, and how and why does exercise, heightened stress, and sustained attention impact their performance? In this proposal, I outline a theory-driven program designed to understand the interplay between cognition, movement, and exercise. This program is aligned with my long-term research goal to understand the cognitive and sensory systems supporting eye and limb movement and appreciate how exercise influences high-level cognitive processing (i.e., executive function). The short-term goals of this proposal address three questions. First, how does the complexity of our visual and haptic (i.e., touch information) environment influence goal-directed eye and limb movements? Second, how does exercise improve executive function and does this benefit vary in different populations, environmental contexts (i.e., heightened state of stress), and as a function of its type, intensity, and duration? Third, does the direction of a change in blood flow to the brain (i.e., increase vs. decrease) influence executive function? This proposal is designed to be inclusive via a directed research line addressing the limited representation of female participants in the exercise sciences literature. This program will use technology to track the movement of the eyes and limbs and integrate that information with direct measures of brain activity. In addition, links between cardiorespiratory and brain blood flow responses to exercise will be used to understand the mechanism(s) by which exercise benefits executive function. The significance of this program lies in its ability to enhance our understanding of how the brain controls movement and why exercise promotes the brain's efficiency. Insights gained from this natural sciences program will support translational frameworks optimizing and improving movement in educational, occupational, and sport environments.