Search Results Within Category "Sports Medicine"

The frequency and severity of heat waves has increased in the last decades. Women over 65 are at the most vulnerable to adverse events during these events. This sex difference only occurs in middle aged and older adults suggesting that menopause could play a role in increased risk in the heat for women. It is important to identify the role that the menopause transition plays in the ability to regulate body temperature in aging women. In this study, we will identify the role of estrogen levels in pre and post menopausal women on their ability to tolerate heat.

For this study, you will visit the lab for a screening visit, a maximal exercise test, and 6 experimental sessions. Before each experimental visit, you will swallow a temperature-sensing capsule 1-2 hours prior to arriving. In one type of experiment (passive heat stress), conducted during 2 visits, you will wear a suit with tubing running hot water to warm your body. A small catheter will be placed in your forearm to measure skin blood flow. In the other type of experiment (active heat stress), conducted during 4 visits, you will perform light exercise in heat and humidity on at least two separate days with different heat and humidity conditions. Participants will receive estrogen treatment for a portion of the study.

430

This study examines how each brain hemisphere contributes to motor control and coordination. Participants play virtual reality/computer games to look at how their arms move during different activities.

Participants play 2D virtual reality/computer games by making reaching movements with position tracking sensors attached to their hands and upper arms.

15

Comparing runners' perceptions of their running gait biomechanics to actual mechanics using RunScribe wearable technology validated drone video capture and subsequent kinematic analysis in a natural outdoor running environment.

You will complete a survey and be asked to run a short distance on a track at your typical long distance pace while being filmed by a drone and while wearing a wearable RunScribe device on your shoe.

$50

The purpose of this study is to determine what golf equipment and swing characteristics best predict playing ability in a population of golfers. Golfers will hit shots with various clubs while the movement of their body, the club, and the ball are tracked.

Participants will come to the Penn State Golf Teaching and Research Center or the Penn State Golf Courses and hit golf shots using their driver, 7 iron, and putter. A golf monitor will be used to track the ball trajectory. The movements of participant's body, club, and ball will be measured in three-dimensions as they swing. Participants will receive brief feedback from a Class-A PGA Professional upon completion.

Participants will receive brief feedback from a Class-A PGA Professional upon completion.

Description: This research study is to assess energetic status, reproductive health, and bone health in a population of young exercising men. Secondarily, this study will also explore how diet, fitness, cardiovascular function, eating behaviors, stress, cognitive function, and sleep related to energy and reproductive outcomes in exercising men. Eligible young men (age 18-35) are those who are generally healthy and either a) exercising or b) not exercising.

There will be essentially 5 study visits - The first visit will include informed consent to take part in the study & completion of questionnaires and measurement of anthropometrics. Visit 2 will include tests of your metabolism, a blood draw, a saliva collection, and assessment of diet and physical activity. Visit 3 will be a short visit for a saliva collection. Visit 4 will include tests of stress (a hair sample), body composition, bone health, aerobic and anaerobic fitness, cognitive testing, and reproductive function. Visit 5 will consist of a results meeting and return of wearable devices and logs.

This study design is a survey that collects information about students' active level and supplement use, with an emphasis on creatine. The difference between contact and non-contact athletes will be examined, in addition to people who are considered inactive/low activity. This will help provide information of how physical activity related supplementation use affects cognition in different populations, with varying amounts of neurotrauma.

All participants will complete a digital survey that provides information about their dietary supplementation and physical activity habits. As part of the survey, participants will be allowed to indicate their interest and availability to come to a laboratory setting to complete a brief batter of neurocognitive tests.

Using micro-RNA in saliva coupled with survey data as a prognostic tool with the ability to guide clinical management of concussions

During their baseline visit participants will complete a saliva swab, surveys, balance test and brief neurocognitive test. Day 7, participants will complete a saliva swab and 2 surveys. Day 30, participants will complete a saliva swab and 4 surveys. The baseline visit is the only in-person visit, day 7 and day 30 are done remotely. All surveys are completed online and day 7 and day 30 saliva swabs are sent home with the participants and sent back in a prepaid mailer on day 30.

$40

The purpose of this study is to identify changes in salivary micro ribosomal nucleic acid (miRNA) expression that are predictive of symptom duration and severity following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in children. The primary endpoints of this study are as follows: 1) Characterization of brain-related miRNA in the saliva of 250 children with mTBI and 200 age- and gender-matched controls between the ages of five and twenty-three years. 2) Identification of a set of salivary miRNAs that is predictive of duration and severity of mTBI symptoms.

Saliva collection and surveys at baseline, 7 days, and 30 Days

$20

Testing the effects of low-impact vibration training vs. body squats only on strength, balance, and walking outcomes in people aged 40-65 years.

There will be one study visit lasting approximately 2.5 hours. Following a short screening and consent process, study participants will complete a series of baseline tests to acquire information about body composition, walking ability, strength, and balance. Participants will then complete a workout consisting of vibration training group or a squats only. Each workout will last approximately 10-minutes. The tests will be repeated to assess any changes resulting from the training.

$25.00

How does the brain decide to reach one way or the other? This study will examine how movement decisions are coordinated by neural mechanisms in the brain during manual interception and reaching actions.

Participants will be required to complete a simple virtual interception task with a handle. Participants will be screened and sign informed consent upon entry of the lab. They will then be fitted with EMG sensors and an eye-tracking reference sticker. They will be seated for this task. The task requires a participant to hold their hand steady at the epicenter of a circle, and reach as quickly and accurately as possible to one of 2 moving targets that will appear.

$20

This study explores how the brain, eyes, and muscles work together when people use their hands to track or catch moving objects. Participants will sit and use their right hand on a tablet to follow a moving virtual ball while wearing non-invasive sensors that record brain waves (EEG), muscle activity (EMG), and eye movements. The goal is to understand how the body prepares for and responds to motion using vision and movement control. The findings may help scientists improve therapies and technologies for people with movement difficulties, such as after a stroke or brain injury.

Participants will attend one in-person session lasting approximately 2 hours. During the session, they will wear an EEG cap, EMG sensors, and an eye tracker while completing a hand-tracking task using their right hand on a tablet.

20

This study will aim to see if there is a difference in strength and balance changes among college students when comparing the Wii Fit Balance and whole-body vibration training.

The study duration will be six-weeks, in which study participants will be involved in either a gaming training group or a vibration platform training group. Participants will complete a baseline session and post-training assessment, each lasting two hours. During both of these visits measures of balance, strength, and walking ability will be acquired. In the six weeks of the study,18 individual vibration or gaming training sessions will be completed. The respective training sessions will take place three times a week for 6 weeks and will last 10-minutes each.

$20.00

The purpose of this study is to compare accuracy and repeatability of biomechanical metrics between technologies during golf swings. This study also aims to identify differences in swing characteristics between various skill levels and environments.

You will be screened with a Health History Questionnaire via email, online survey, or in-person. You will come to either the Suzy and Jim Broadhurst Golf Teaching and Research Center (GTRC) or the Penn State Golf Courses with your golf clubs to provide consent, collect blood pressure and heart rate, answer golf-related questions, and perform golf-related tasks (full swing shots with various clubs). Various technologies will be used to measure the biomechanics of your swing. The total time of participation is expected to be about 60-90 minutes.

When you have finished the golf-related activites, you will be provided with a brief piece of instruction from one of the Center’s two Class-A PGA Professionals.

Blood sugar spikes (i.e., acute hyperglycemia) are a common occurrence in individuals with metabolic dysfunction (i.e., prediabetes and type 2 diabetes). Previous research has shown that blood sugar spikes can temporarily worsen blood vessel health and function in healthy adults and individuals with metabolic dysfunction. Additionally, previous research suggests that blood sugar spikes can lead to elevated exercise blood pressure responses in healthy, college-aged adults. However, little is known about the impact of blood sugar spikes on cardiovascular responses to exercise (i.e., blood pressure and blood flow) in healthy middle-aged adults and individuals with metabolic dysfunction. The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of blood sugar spikes on cardiovascular responses during handgrip exercise. Participants will report to the lab for 3 sessions. Session 1 will be a baseline/control session. During sessions 2 and 3, participants will be randomly assigned to consume either a high-glucose beverage (75 g), or a high-fructose beverage (75 g). Glucose causes blood sugar spikes whereas fructose does not. Both before and after the consumption of either beverage, blood pressure, blood flow, and muscle oxygenation responses to handgrip exercise will be measured.

The study will include 3 sessions. Participants will report to the lab for 3 sessions. Session 1 will be a control session. During sessions 2 and 3, participants will be randomly assigned to drink a high-glucose beverage, or a high-fructose beverage. The measurements for this study will include body composition measurements, questionnaires, finger prick blood sampling to measure blood sugar levels, heart rate and blood pressure measurements, measurements of blood vessel health, and handgrip exercise with the measurement of blood pressure, blood flow, and muscle oxygen levels.

$75

Current concussion testing tracks physical symptoms like headaches but often misses psychological factors that can slow down healing. This study asks patients to respond to prompts regarding their injury in three timepoints: acute, sub-acute, and post-acute phases of injury. We will use artificial intelligence to look for specific patterns in their language that might predict a longer recovery. The goal is to create a simple screening tool that helps doctors identify patients who need extra support earlier."

There will be three surveys over the course of one month. Each survey will take around 10-15 minutes.

We will utilize natural language processing using artificial intelligence to analyze text responses to open-ended survey questions. The population will be people who have experienced persistent symptoms following a concussion (more than three months), at any time in their life. We will also collect symptom data. The goal is to compare the symptom data between participants with cognitive distortions in their language compared to those with healthy language patterns.

Participants will complete one online survey using Qualtrics. If they choose to, they can be redirected to a gift card drawing after completing the survey.

Exercise conducted above the shoulders (i.e., overhead exercise) can reduce blood flow and oxygen delivery to the exercising muscle due to the effects of gravity. This ultimately leads to greater muscle fatigue during overhead exercise tasks which can lead to fatigue-related injuries in occupational settings. Cold-water exposure increases blood pressure (i.e., cold pressor response) and could increase blood flow to exercising muscle by increasing muscular perfusion pressure (i.e., pressure that pushes blood into the muscle) during overhead exercise. This has the potential to reduce muscle fatigue during overhead exercise. However, no studies to date have investigated the effect of cold-water exposure on muscle fatigue during overhead exercise.

There will be 4 in person visits at Penn State Altoona for this study. The first visit will be ~1 hour and the other 3 visits will be ~30 minutes. Participants will complete questionnaires, undergo body composition measurements, and resting blood pressure and heart rate measurements during visit 1. Participants will complete a handgrip exercise test during each visit and their arm will be placed in different positions (overhead or straight in front) during the exercise test. Blood pressure, muscle oxygen levels, and blood flow will be measured during the exercise test. During two of the visits, the participant's foot will be exposed to cold water (~40 degrees F) with a cold-water foot sleeve for a brief period of time (1-3 minutes).

$25