Arts & Sciences: Human performance
The College of Arts and Sciences is the University of Oregon's largest academic unit, offering 45 different degree programs in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. With the Rose Bowl center stage, we offer just a snapshot of activities within the college that relate to human performance.
* So, this athlete walks into a virtual clinic. No joke here, it's really the beginning of a new way of teaching anatomy. Susan Verscheure, instructor of human physiology, paired up with animation experts from the university's Interactive Media Group to create a virtual clinic full of virtual patients with virtual injuries.
At their computers, real live anatomy students can listen to a patient's story, walk through a series of diagnostic tests and learn to distinguish between muscle, nerve and ligament damage -- without twisting the limb of a real patient. Step Aboard.
* Leading up to the 2008 Olympics in China, UO researchers acclimated some athletes for the environmental conditions -- except for pollution -- they would encounter in Beijing. They prepared in the state-of-the-art environmental chamber (described in a video below; the video was produced for the UO's recently completed Campaign Oregon fund drive).
This 12-foot-square room is capable of simulating altitude up to 18,000 feet, holding temperature constant at a set point between 14 degrees and 122 degrees Fahrenheit, and controlling humidity anywhere from 10 percent to 95 percent. It can be switched from one extreme to another in 30 minutes, and the system allows researchers to monitor vascular and respiratory changes of subjects both at rest and when exercising. The goal is to understand these physiological adaptations and responses, says John Halliwill, a professor of human physiology.
In 2007, the U.S. Marine Corps requested Halliwill's help in testing newly designed jogging suits. The winning design was chosen for use in 2008. Since then, Halliwill has tested new military helmets to help identify which of three new types of new liners for military helmets works best to keep soldiers from over heating.
* Losing a limb is a traumatic experience. What about getting a replacement. At age 19, David Savage, lost his right hand in a machine press accident. Thirty-five years later, in December 2006, he received a hand transplant. The UO's Scott Frey, a professor of psychology, tested Savage's brain wiring to see if the new hand was being recognized. Frey's team found that Savage could feel sensation in his palm when a sponge stroked it. When fMRI images were taken simultaneous to the stimulation, they revealed activity in the areas of his brain roughly comparable to those of four male control participants when their right palms were stroked. Those areas are also the same ones that would have responded to his original right hand, demonstrating that the hand was "reclaiming" its old territory.
* Speaking of the amazing human brain: UO neuroscientist Helen Neville, whose work has been funded for many years by the National Institutes of Health, has released a remarkable DVD presentation of the human brain. "Changing Brains: Effects of Experience on Human Development" in 75-minutes, in 12 segments, covers what research has found on the brain.
The program was created for parents, teachers, caregivers, policymakers and anyone else interested in the mysteries of the brain. It’s available for free online or for purchase at the Changing Brains Web site. Proceeds from sales will be used for distribution to low-income families and to translate the DVD into other languages.
* Computers are great, but what about access for the one million U.S. adults diagnosed each year with cognitive disabilities, especially those with traumatic brain injuries, Alzheimer's disease and developmental disabilities? Enter "Software Pharmacies: Design of Personalized Assistive Devices for People with Cognitive Impairments."
With a National Science Foundation grant, Stephen Fickas, computer science, and education professor McKay Sohlberg are leading an interdisciplinary effort to develop tools to help individuals overcome the isolation caused by their disabilities.
"We're trying to deliver the kind of interactive technology you and I use every day -- like email, Facebook and Twitter -- by attempting to build versions of these tools for this population," Fickas said. They're also developing software to aid in-home rehabilitation and self-administered medication. After being released from the hospital, patients are sent home with a box that attaches to their TV. At the prescribed times each day, the TV turns on an interactive instructional program that reminds the patient it's time to take their medication or do their exercises.
