Applied Exercise Science Lab | Bone Biology Laboratory | Exercise Genetics Laboratory |
Exercise Physiology Lab | Human Countermeasures Laboratory | Integrative Cardiovascular Physiology Laboratory |
Laboratory for Diversity in Sport | Laboratory for the Study of Intercollegiate Athletics | Motor Behavior Laboratories | Neuromuscular Physiology Laboratory | Redox Biology & Cell Signaling Laboratory | Vascular Biology Laboratory
The Applied Exercise Science Laboratory serves a primary role in training graduate and undergraduate students for professions in cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, clinical exercise physiology, sports medicine, sports physiology, and worksite fitness/ health promotion. The laboratory supports a doctoral program in exercise physiology and a Master of Science program for students desiring advanced training in applied exercise science. The general goal of the research in the laboratory is to generate new knowledge for the enhancement of human health, physical fitness, and quality of life through physical activity. Specific health-related research aims are targeted toward the study of the exercise-mediated effects on lipid metabolism, on the cardiovascular system, on other accepted cardiovascular disease risk factors. In addition, ongoing research projects are being conducted to profile elite athletes and study training factors that contribute to optimal athletic performance. The laboratory also serves firefighters, law-enforcement officials, and employees and students of Texas A&M University through the FIT LIFE Exercise Program. This program provides clients with an economical but sophisticated assessment of cardiovascular disease risk and physical fitness, and with a number of scientifically designed exercise classes. Research related to the FIT LIFE program includes longitudinal physical fitness and cardiovascular disease risk profiling of firefighters and police officers. Faculty currently working in the Applied Exercise Science Laboratory are:
Under the direction of Dr. Susan Bloomfield, the laboratory is involved in several lines of investigation centering on the adaptation of bone to exercise and to disuse, and interactions with nutritional intake and hormonal changes. Since the laboratory's current funding is from the national Space Biomedical Research Institute, most current projects focus on mechanisms for the bone loss incurred with space flight, and how this bone loss might be attenuated by various exercise or pharmacological or hormonal agents, using rats and mice as experimental subjects. These research results will have application to other types of disuse-induced bone loss (as with prolonged casting or bed rest) and to the bone loss incurred with osteoporosis. Other projects deal with the contribution of food restriction on space flight-induced bone loss and the role of various organic matrix proteins in bone function, using transgenic mouse models in collaboration with an NIH laboratory. Techniques utilized in our laboratory include histomorphometric analysis of bone structure and bone formation rate, peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) scanning, mechanical testing of bone samples (in collaboration with A&M's Dept. of Mechanical Engineering), and gene expression for important bone proteins (in collaboration with several laboratories).
Directed by Dr. Michael Massett, the overall objectives of the laboratory are to identify biological mediators of adaptations to exercise training and to elucidate the mechanistic basis for chronic diseases associated with low levels of fitness. Intrinsic exercise capacity and the responses to exercise training are complex polygenic traits, both of which are determined to some extent by genetics. The complexity underlying the adaptation to exercise training or “trainability” is evident from the highly variable responses to training, such that some individuals may not respond to training at all. Although many of the phenotypic traits associated with exercise training are well known (i.e., increased oxidative metabolism, improved endothelial function), the genetic factors determining the magnitude of the response to exercise are poorly understood. Currently the laboratory is using genetic/genomic approaches, specifically quantitative trait (QTL) mapping and haplotype analysis, to investigate the genetic basis for individual variation in response to exercise training. These genetic/genomic approaches will be combined with microarray analysis, systems physiology, and biochemistry to identify novel genes associated with exercise training. As many exercise-related traits are crucial for health in the general population, understanding the genetic factors associated with adaptation to exercise training may help to elucidate the mechanistic basis for chronic diseases associated with low levels of fitness. Therefore, the novel genes associated with high or low exercise training responses that are identified in this project could eventually be used to develop therapeutic agents for the treatment of diseases associated with low levels of fitness such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
The Exercise Physiology Laboratories prepare students to conduct
research in basic and applied exercise physiology. The emphases
in the applied programs are in the measurement and interpretation
of neuromuscular function and control and the cardiorespiratory
responses to exercise. Emphases in basic research include investigation
into the underlying mechanisms of neuromuscular efficiency, exercise
metabolism, free radical stress, respiratory muscle fatigue and
tissue blood flow.
Faculty currently involved with the Exercise Physiology Laboratories are:
Dr. William Barnes, Professor
Dr. Susan Bloomfield, Professor
Dr. Stephen Crouse, Professor
Dr. John Green, Clinical Professor
Dr. John Lawler, Professor
Purpose: The purpose of the Human Countermeasures Laboratory is the integrative study of nutritional and exercise countermeaures for the prevention and treatment of the effects of inactivity. Aging and microgravity on musculoskeletal performance and disease.
Approach: The approach is to identify environmental (e.g. nutrition) and genetic (e.g. SNPs) factors that contribute to interindividual variability in muscle loss (due to inactivity, aging, microgravity, cancer cachexia, AIDS, renal disease, trauma induced immobility) or variability in response to intervention (pharmacological, exercise, nutrition x exercise).
Current Studies: Currently we have a human clinical trial examining the effect of dietary cholesterol on muscle hypertrophy with resistance exercise training in 60-69 year old men and women. Data collection will be completed in December 2007. We will soon complete data collection for a parallel study of the same question using a rat model.
New Studies: We have two new projects that will be getting underway in Summer 2007 that will begin to examine the question why dietary cholesterol might enhance muscle hypertrophy. The first will examine a new method of muscle protein synthesis using “heavy water-D20” or deuterated water. We will examine total protein synthesis in muscle biopsies in the 24 recovery period from acute exercise with and without a protein supplement. This is the first study in a series that will examine the possibility that cholesterol contributes to the prevention of a plateau effect in muscle protein synthesis after a period of exercise training. The second study will examine an exact time course of blood cholesterol reduction following acute exercise. This study will begin the framework of precise timing of cholesterol to maximize muscle responses to exercise and minimize the potential negative effects on cardiovascular health.
Future Studies: Several studies are in the planning/proposal stage and will begin by 2008. Two large studies will examine the effect of protein load and timing and dietary cholesterol using resistance exercise as a countermeasure to prevent inactivity or microgravity induced muscle loss. We also have a clinical trial being planned that will examine the interaction of statins (cholesterol lowering drugs) and dietary cholesterol on resistance exercise induced muscle hypertrophy.
Dr. Steven E. Riechman, Ph.D., M.P.H , Lab Director and Assistant Professor
Graduate Students: Heath Gasier, M.S., R.D. (Exercise Physiology)
Changwoock Lee, B.S. (Exercise Physiology)
Gentle Chikani, M.S. (Nutrition)
The Integrative Cardiovascular Physiology Laboratory (ICPL), is under the direction of Dr. Demetra Christou, Assistant Professor. The mission of the ICPL is to perform high quality original research in humans from an integrative (systemic to molecular) perspective and to provide rigorous research training to undergraduate and graduate students.
Research interests of the ICPL include:
The Laboratory for Diversity in Sport at Texas A&M University is dedicated to producing and disseminating research related to all forms of diversity within the sport context. As the world continues to change and diversify, so too do the persons with whom people associate. People are different with respect to demographics, values and attitudes, educational and professional backgrounds, and various other group memberships. Thus, within sport organizations and athletic teams, people are now working along side dissimilar others, more so than ever before. The purpose of the Laboratory is to examine and seek to understand how such heterogeneity impacts team and organization performance, member affect, and member behaviors. Therefore, research from the Laboratory is aimed at investigating under-represented persons and groups, diverse dyads, heterogeneous teams, and individuals' outcomes when surrounded by dissimilar others. Such research allows for a greater understanding of how diversity impacts individuals and teams, as well as the benefits of diversity.
Dr. George Cunningham, Lab Director and Assistant Professor
Established in the Fall of 2003, the Laboratory for the Study of Intercollegiate Athletics is an interdisciplinary research and training laboratory. The primary mission of the LSIA is to advance and further develop the management of the intercollegiate athletics community through scholarly and progressive inquiry. The three major goals of the LSIA are to Generate new knowledge of concepts and issues related to the practice, application and theory of intercollegiate athletics management; to Aggregate existing sources of knowledge and inquiry related to the practice, application and theory of intercollegiate athletics management; and to Disseminate timely and appropriate knowledge concerning the practice, application and theory of intercollegiate athletics management. The LSIA examines major concepts and issues related to the management and conduct of all levels of intercollegiate athletics, including those related to: organizational effectiveness and efficiency, social responsibility and ethics, revenue generation, leadership, organizational control and planning, reform and organizational change, fiscal management, gender equity, diversity, legal aspects and compliance, career attainment processes, and marketing.
Dr. Michael Sagas, Lab Director, Associate Professor and Chair, Division of Sport Management
The Motor Behavior Program housed in the Human Performance Laboratories in the Read Building on the Texas A&M University main campus incorporates five laboratories (Coordination Dynamics Laboratory, Motor Development Laboratory, Motor Control Laboratory, and Motor Learning/Control Laboratory) and allows masters and doctoral students to emphasize study in one of these areas.
Studies developed and undertaken in the Coordination Dynamics Laboratory focus on identifying the perception-action processes that underlie the control and learning of multijoint limb movements. Current studies have focused on four main themes: 1) identifying the processes that control the assembly of discrete and cyclical units of action to produce sequential actions - using rapid aiming movements; 2) identifying the processes involved in interlimb transfer of intersegmental dynamics and coordination dynamics - using an elbow-wrist coordination task; 3) identifying the processes involved in the production of 1:1 and polyrhythmic bimanual coordination - using a full arm bimanual circle-tracing task; and 4) identifying the processes that allow individuals to learn motor actions through observation - using an elbow wrist coordination task. The research emphasizes an understanding of motor control and learning via the analyses of the dynamics (stability, loss of stability, attraction, and phase transitions) of behavioral data. Future goals will focus on developing the above experimental systems to study age related changes in motor control as well as changes that arise from neurological impairment.
The Motor Development Laboratory is involved in inquiry related to motor behavior from a developmental perspective. Current work focuses on two lines of inquiry - The first explores the programming characteristics involved in limb selection and reaching movements. More specific, we are interested in identifying the cognitive level of action processing. Currently we are using the simulated (imagined) versus real movement paradigm to address this goal. The second line of inquiry focuses on assessing the quality and quantity of motor development affordances in the home for young children. In addition to developing a unique observation instrument, it is our expectation that the outcome of this project will significantly enhance our basic understanding of the potential of the home environment in optimizing motor development of the child.
The aim of the Motor Control Laboratory is to understand how the central nervous system controls and regulates coordinated movement in healthy individuals and in those with neurological disease and/or brain injury. Of special interest in how coordination of upper extremity movements is influenced by the normal aging and neurological impairments such as Parkinsons's disease and Stroke. Coordinated upper extremity movements are a part of many tasks of daily living. Research involves understanding the components that comprise such movements as well as associated declines that occur in the defined populations. Investigations in our lab include: multi-joint coordination mechanisms; pattern of oculomotor control during multijoint movements; learning and adaptation; as well as development of rehabilitative interventions and strategies aimed to improve or reverse movement declines.
The Motor Learning/Control Laboratory studies the theoretical processes of the performance and learning of motor skills and the practical application of this knowledge to biotechnology. Topics including those related to memory, anticipation, coordination, timing, and movement efficiency are studied. Current projects include development of physiological control systems (eye tracking and electromyography) for application in industrial, military, medical, rehabilitative, and manned space flight settings.
Faculty currently involved with the Motor Behavior Laboratories are:
Dr. John Buchanan, Assistant Professor
Dr. Carl Gabbard, Professor
Dr. Charles Shea, Professor
Dr. David Wright, Professor
The broad reseach interest of the Neuromuscular Physiology Lab 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.
Dr. Evangelos Christou, Lab Director and Assistant Professor
The Redox Biology & Cell Signaling Laboratory is dedicated to investigating
the role of pro-oxidants in normal skeletal muscle function as well as skeletal
muscle dysfunction with physical inactivity and disease. Pro-oxidants such as
free radicals (e.g., nitric oxide, superoxide) and other reactive species (e.g.,
hydrogen peroxide, lipid peroxides) are produced inside the body as a function
of metabolism, and contribute to many healthy functions including growth, killing
invading bacteria, and control of blood flow. Our laboratory continues to be
involved in projects that have defined the contribution of pro-oxidants to skeletal
muscle contractions and metabolism. But overproduction or lack of antioxidant
protection causes “oxidative stress” and may contribute to over 100
diseases. Exercise and diet appear to be critical modulators of the oxidant state
of tissues in the body, including skeletal muscle. For example, our laboratory
has been conducting experiments for over a decade showing that moderate exercise
training increases protective antioxidant proteins in skeletal muscle and the
heart. The Redox Biology & Cell Signaling Laboratory has consistently published
its findings in journals of high quality and impact including the American Journal
of Physiology, Journal of Applied Physiology, and Free Radical Biology & Medicine.
In addition, our students have won numerous awards and grants at the national,
state, and local levels.
Our laboratory, in collaboration with other researchers in Human
Nutrition and Medical Physiology at Texas A&M University,
has also begun an important mission to understand the impact
of the overproduction of nitric oxide and other pro-oxidants
during skeletal muscle wasting due to physical inactivity, spaceflight,
muscular dystrophy, heart disease, and aging. Since the chemical
pathways and mechanisms that control pro-oxidant production and
antioxidant protection are very complex, collaboration with other
researchers, the work of highly qualified graduate students and
post-doctoral fellows, sophisticated methods, and state-of-the-art
equipment are integrated in order to unravel the mysteries of
physical inactivity and modern chronic diseases. We anticipate
that new knowledge gained from this line of research will result
in the development of combination antioxidant therapies including
exercise along with new, targeted drugs and diet. Our goals are
two-fold: (a) to reduce the human suffering and increase the
quality of life of Texans and Americans afflicted by skeletal
muscle wasting with heart disease, muscular dystrophy, etc.,
and (b) to substantially reduce the risk and incidence of modern
chronic disease by improving the function and antioxidant state
of skeletal muscle. We are seeking continued support for graduate
student research in our laboratory.
Dr. John Lawler, Lab Director
and Professor
Under the direction of Dr. Christopher Woodman, research conducted in the Vascular Biology Laboratory focuses on the interactive effects of aging and exercise training on skeletal muscle vascular beds. The primary goal is to understand the mechanisms by which endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells adapt to aging resulting in increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. In addition, he studies mechanisms by which exercise training attenuates or reverses the detrimental effects of aging on vascular cell function. Functional studies are conducted using isolated perfused arteries to determine the cell signaling events in endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells that mediate endothelium-dependent vasodilation. Biochemical and molecular techniques are used to determine mechanisms contributing to age-induced endothelial dysfunction and to determine mechanisms by which exercise training improves vascular cell function in senescent arteries.