| Movement
Dynamics Laboratory |
| Dr.
Melissa Gross |
|
| |
| 1206
CCRB |
| 401
Washtenaw Ave. |
| Ann
Arbor, MI 48109-2214 |
| Phone:
(734) 763-0013 |
| |
|
|
| This
lab is featured on pages 4-6 of the Spring 2002 Movement
magazine |
|
Research in the laboratory focuses on the interaction between
the mechanical characteristics of the musculoskeletal system
and emergent movement patterns. An ongoing research area is
the effect of aging on functional ability, and a new research
direction is exploring the biomechanics of expressive movement.
|
| Expression
of Emotion in Body Movements |
|
|
| |
Our
goal in this project is to determine how human movement patterns
are changed in characteristic ways when different emotions are
expressed. Actors perform common movements (e.g., knocking,
walking) under different emotional states while being videotaped.
We use the motion capture data to create animations of expressive
movement and to derive analytical "rules" for emotion
expression in body movements. Data analysis includes a traditional
biomechanical approach as well as a new approach to find "emotion
templates" in the movements, extending the basic understanding
of how emotional content is manifest in body systems.
A secondary
goal of the project is to understand how body motions communicate
emotion. To explore this question, we use the motion capture
data collected in the first part of the project to animate
different representations of the body, e.g., point light displays.
By manipulating the information in the body representations,
we hope to learn which aspects of body motion communicate
affect.
|
| Functional
Ability in Women During Mid-Life |
| |
The
purpose of this NIH-funded study is to assess changes in the
ability to perform functional movement tasks in women who
are age-eligible to experience the menopausal transition.
Body movement data are collected on approximately one thousand
women per year as they climb stairs, rise from a chair, lift
an object, reach as far as possible, and walk. These biomechanical
data are integrated with other data such as hormone status,
osteoarthritis, and self-report of functional ability to describe
the trajectory of functional ability across mid-age in women.
|
| Faculty: |
|
Melissa
Gross, Ph.D.
(mgross@umich.edu),
Director |
| Staff: |
|
Matt
Jansma (mjansma@umich.edu) |
|
Kelly
Lenard (klenard@umich.edu) |
|
Frank
Lewicki (alewicki@umich.edu) |
|
Erica
Murdock (ericagm@umich.edu) |
| Graduate
Student(s): |
|
Beth
Crane (bcrane@umich.edu) |
| Undergraduate
Student(s): |
|
Zaineb
Bohra (zbohra@umich.edu) |
|
Dan
Hoffman (danielaw@umich.edu) |
|
Shannon
Kruger (krugshan@umich.edu) |
| Jonny
Priebe (jrpriebe@umich.edu) |
| Collaborators: |
|
Barb
Fredrickson, Ph.D. (blf@umich.edu),
UM College of LS&A [Psychology] |
|
Geoff
Gerstner, Ph.D. (geger@umich.edu),
UM School of Dentistry [Biologic and Materials Sciences] |
|
Dan
Koditschek, Ph.D. (kod@umich.edu),
UM School of Engineering [Electrical Engineering and Computer
Science] |
|
Heidi
Kumao, M.F.A. (hkumao@umich.edu),
UM School of Art and Design |
|
MaryFran
Sowers, Ph.D. (mfsowers@umich.edu),
UM School of Public Health [Epidemiology] |
|
|
