Exercise Intensity-Brain Activity-Affect
Examine, using different samples and exercise modalities, whether resting regional brain activation is predictive of affective responses to acute bouts of exercise. This provides evidence supporting: (a) the notion that regional brain activation can serve as a biological marker of a predisposition to respond to affective stimuli (e.g., like exercise) and (b) the idea that aerobic exercise can indeed be an emotion-eliciting stimulus. Research also examines: whether ongoing brain activation is reflective of current affective states; whether both of these measures change as a function of acute exercise; and other psychophysiological measures of affect in an attempt to provide converging evidence.
Exercise Intensity-Enjoyment
Examination of the exercise-enjoyment relationship by manipulating exercise intensity and also examining the extent to which individual differences play a role in determining/influencing such a relationship.
Tactical Athlete Health and Wellness
In conjunction with the Illinois Fire Service Institute and the Police Training Institute – Project examines objective (muscular endurance, flexibility, cardiovascular endurance, body composition) and subjective (perceived fitness, perceived health and well-being) in recruit firefighters and law enforcement officers at the beginning and end of a basic training course that includes a fitness training component. To date, over 750 individuals have been tested in this ongoing study.
We have been interested in determining the psychophysiological effects of performing demanding physical activity in hot, hostile environments, including (a) the examination of individual difference factors and whether such factors might be able to predict those individuals more likely to experience difficulties when performing heavy physical work in the heat; (b) the effects of different rehabilitation strategies on the recovery from such demanding activity; and (c) how cognitive function is influenced by such activity. Some of these studies have been recently funded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH).