The Neuromuscular Physiology Lab (NPL) is directed by Dr. Evangelos Christou.  The broad research interest of the NPL is the identification of neuromuscular mechanisms that mediate acute perturbations (arousal, fatigue, and sleep) and chronic influences (aging, disease, training, and learning) to motor performance in humans.

Currently we attempt to understand how the central nervous system alters the activity of the agonist and antagonist muscles to lower motor output variability and improve end-point accuracy.  Research in the lab will involve identifying neural activation strategies from the single motor unit to the whole muscle level.

The clinical significance of this work relates to populations that have increased tremor and impaired accuracy, such as older adults and Parkinsonian patients.