Determinants of motricity

• Mechanical approach

  Understand laws of behaviour of a solid or fluid system thanks to constraints, pressures, deformations to understand the movement of a multi-body model.

  • Caracterization of materials
  • Numerical simulation
  • Biorobotics and biomimicry.

  Logiciels : Abaqus®, Mimic®, Comsol®, Catia®,...)

• Biomechanical approach

  To understand motor skills based on the mechanical and anatomical properties of the human body, focusing in particular on its musculoskeletal system.

  • Performance evaluation
  • Body segment movement analysis and eye-tracking
  • Exploration of muscle function

• Physiological approach

  To study the endogenous and exogenous interactions between man and its environment by relying among others on the physiology of effort, sensory physiology,...

  • Electrophysiological measurement of excitable cells such as muscle, CNS, SNP, brain, skin...
  • Understanding of sensory systems
  • Energy and muscle metabolism
  • Gas exchange analysis

• Psychological approach

  Understanding the cognitive and societal origins of human behavior.

  • Experimental psychology: descriptive and experimental methods based on qualitative and quantitative measures
  • Cognitive psychology: behavior seen as a process of information processing that focuses on reaction time, memory, attention, learning, language and perception
  • Understanding Human Factors
  • Motivation, stress management and psychosocial aspects
  • Memory, learning, attentional processes and cognition

   

• Neuroscientific approach

  Understanding the effects of the perceptual-motor loop for planning and coordinating movement through the structures of the nervous system (nerves, CNS, SNP, brain structures, spinal cord).

  • Understanding of pathologies related to the nervous system
  • Assessment of brain plasticity for cognition and motor skills of patients
  • Analysis of cerebral and spinal processes related to movement and measurement of neuronal activity

Design of test fixtures and experimental equipment

Static, dynamic and cyclic mechanical tests

Functional analysis and performance evaluation (force, kinematics, endurance, coordination...)

Spatial and temporal muscle contraction

3D digital modelling

Sensorimotor control, perception-action loop

Metabolism and physiology of pathologies

Motor behaviour and emotional regulation

Understanding of the neural bases of our behaviours