Who are we?

Welcome to the Physical Activity and Neurocognitive Health Laboratory!

The Physical Activity and Neurocognitive Health Laboratory (PNC Lab) is located at the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health (KCH) in Freer Hall at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).

Our Mission

Our mission is to improve the understanding of the effects of physical behaviors (physical activity and sedentary behaviors) on cognitive and brain health. Research in our laboratory considers physiological (e.g., cardio-metabolic biomarkers, adiposity, and aerobic fitness) and psychological mediators and moderators. Our goal is to utilize this knowledge to design physical activity and sedentary behavior interventions to improve cognitive and brain health in pediatric populations and working-age adults.

Research

Current projects in our laboratory include a pilot crossover randomized trial to test the effects of interrupting prolonged sitting on cognitive and brain functions in adults with obesity (SITLess! Adult), the analyses of large pre-collected datasets to identify mediators and moderators of the physical activity and sedentary behavior relationships to cognitive functions in adolescents, and systematic reviewing of sedentary behavior and neurocognitive literature. Please see our Research Projects for more information.

Interested in finding out more?

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