Covering the basics of neuroscience, including a chapter on the vocabulary of the nervous system (a great brush-up even for those who have some prior knowledge of neuroscience), this excellent reference eases the student through more difficult topics such as reflexes, eye-hand coordination, and neural control of running and walking. Each chapter begins with an outline, and a comprehensive glossary rounds out the book. More than 50 original line drawings illustrate key concepts. * Presents difficult information on neuroscience in an easy-to-understand manner. * Explains the major organizational subdivisions of the central nervous system briefly, with an emphasis on structures and structural relationships that impact motor control. * Presents typical spinal cord and brainstem reflexes involved in motor control and discusses the methods for using these reflexes to influence strength gains and muscle flexibility. * Includes the most current research on the neural control of hand-eye coordination, discussed in relation to its importance to rehabilitation medicine and childrens' physical education. * Chapter on the neural control of human locomotion integrates concepts in previous chapters to show the harmony of neural interaction that is needed to complete any motor act. * Includes the latest research (by the author) showing that humans can consciously alter reflex activity and the impact of these findings on athletic performance, recovery from injury, and motor learning. * Concepts are illustrated with anecdotes and examples making difficult information less intimidating and easier to grasp. * Includes topics like hand-eye coordination and human locomotion, applying neuroscience to everyday activities and making highly theoretical information useful. * More than 50 original line drawings illustrate key concepts. * Chapter outlines give students an overview of the information to be presented. * Comprehensive glossary provides an easy review of difficult terminology.
With eight new chapters and 130 pages of fresh material, this second edition covers a wide range of topics, including movement disorders and current theories of motor control and co-ordination.
Biophysical Foundations of Human Movement, Third Edition, introduces readers to key concepts concerning the anatomical, mechanical, physiological, neural, and psychological bases of human movement. The text provides undergraduate students with a broad foundation for more detailed study of the subdisciplines of human movement and for cross-disciplinary studies. Readers will learn the multi-dimensional changes in movement and movement potential that occur throughout the life span as well as those changes that occur as adaptations to training, practice, and other lifestyle factors. This third edition includes the latest research and improved presentation to address areas of growth and change in the fields of human movement. The following are important updates to this edition: • A new chapter on historical origins of human movement science provides students with an appreciation of the development of the field as well as its future directions. • Content regarding exercise physiology has been reorganized to provide more discrete coverage of key concepts in nutrition. • A new concluding section focuses on applications in the areas of prevention and management of chronic disease, prevention and management of injury, and performance enhancement in sport and the workplace, as well as the benefits of sport and exercise science to work, sport, and everyday living. • Ancillary materials support instructors in teaching across disciplines as they assist students in understanding the breadth of content in this comprehensive text. Using a modular approach to teaching sport and exercise science, Biophysical Foundations of Human Movement, Third Edition, offers students a structured understanding of how the subdisciplines work independently and in tandem. Following a general introduction to the field of human movement studies, readers are introduced to basic concepts, life-span changes, and adaptations arising in response to training in each of the five major biophysical subdisciplines of human movement. Each subdiscipline is given a brief introduction, including the definition and historical development of the subdiscipline, the typical issues and problems it addresses, the levels of analysis it uses, and relevant professional training and organizations. Multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary approaches to human movement are also discussed along with contemporary applications. By studying the integration of knowledge from a number of the biophysical subdisciplines, students will be better prepared for advanced study and careers reliant on the integration of knowledge from various disciplines and perspectives. The third edition offers tools for retaining the material, including learning objectives and summaries in each chapter, a glossary, and lists of web-based resources. Throughout the text, special “In Focus” features highlight key organizations, individuals, and studies from around the world that have contributed to the current understanding of human movement. These features help readers appreciate the evolution of the field so that they may better understand its direction. Students interested in further study will find specialized texts for each of the subdisciplines listed in the Further Reading and References section of each chapter along with updated lists of websites. The third edition of Biophysical Foundations of Human Movement offers a comprehensive introduction for students, scientists, and practitioners involved in the many professions grounded in or related to human movement, kinesiology, and sport and exercise science. By considering the effect of adaptations in each of the biophysical subdisciplines of human movement, Biophysical Foundations of Human Movement also illustrates the important role physical activity plays in the maintenance of health throughout the life span.
This interpretation of perception and action allows Alain Berthoz to focus on psychological phenomena: proprioception and kinaesthesis; the mechanisms that maintain balance and co-ordination actions; and basic perceptual and memory processes involved in navigation.
It is well-established that the human nervous system is able to modify its functions in response to activity or experience. This response has been termed ‘neuroplasticity’ and involves the reorganisation of neural circuits that control human movement. Recent evidence suggests that the primary motor cortex (M1) can experience neuroplasticity following various types of physical activity. Although neuroplasticity can be stimulated in a variety of ways, recently, it has been reported following exercise, injury and during periods of rehabilitation. This book introduces the key concepts that underpin human motor control and its application to exercise science and rehabilitation. The topics covered here integrate research, theory and the clinical applications of exercise neuroscience that will support students, researchers and clinicians to understand how the nervous system responds, or adapts, to physical activity, training, rehabilitation and disease. The book uses a mix of neuromuscular physiology, electrophysiology and muscle physiology to provide a synthesis of current knowledge and research in the field of exercise neuroscience that specifically examines the effects of exercise training, injury and rehabilitation of the human nervous system. This is the first textbook of its kind that describes the neurological benefits of exercise, and will be a highly valuable text for undergraduate students studying exercise science, exercise physiology and physiotherapy.
A synthesis of biomechanics and neural control that draws on recent advances in robotics to address control problems solved by the human sensorimotor system. This book proposes a transdisciplinary approach to investigating human motor control that synthesizes musculoskeletal biomechanics and neural control. The authors argue that this integrated approach—which uses the framework of robotics to understand sensorimotor control problems—offers a more complete and accurate description than either a purely neural computational approach or a purely biomechanical one. The authors offer an account of motor control in which explanatory models are based on experimental evidence using mathematical approaches reminiscent of physics. These computational models yield algorithms for motor control that may be used as tools to investigate or treat diseases of the sensorimotor system and to guide the development of algorithms and hardware that can be incorporated into products designed to assist with the tasks of daily living. The authors focus on the insights their approach offers in understanding how movement of the arm is controlled and how the control adapts to changing environments. The book begins with muscle mechanics and control, progresses in a logical manner to planning and behavior, and describes applications in neurorehabilitation and robotics. The material is self-contained, and accessible to researchers and professionals in a range of fields, including psychology, kinesiology, neurology, computer science, and robotics.
Human Motor Control is a elementary introduction to the field of motor control, stressing psychological, physiological, and computational approaches. Human Motor Control cuts across all disciplines which are defined with respect to movement: physical education, dance, physical therapy, robotics, and so on. The book is organized around major activity areas. - A comprehensive presentation of the major problems and topics in human motor control - Incorporates applications of work that lie outside traditional sports or physical education teaching
This volume provides an up to date and comprehensive overview of the philosophy and neuroscience movement, which applies the methods of neuroscience to traditional philosophical problems and uses philosophical methods to illuminate issues in neuroscience. At the heart of the movement is the conviction that basic questions about human cognition, many of which have been studied for millennia, can be answered only by a philosophically sophisticated grasp of neuroscience's insights into the processing of information by the human brain. Essays in this volume are clustered around five major themes: data and theory in neuroscience; neural representation and computation; visuomotor transformations; color vision; and consciousness.
An examination of the link between the vigor with which we move and the value that the brain assigns to the goal of the movement. Why do we reflexively run toward people we love, but only walk toward others? In Vigor, Reza Shadmehr and Alaa Ahmed examine the link between how the brain assigns value to things and how it controls our movements. They find that brain regions thought to be principally involved in decision making also affect movement vigor--and that brain regions thought to be principally responsible for movement also bias patterns of decision making.