PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOMECHANICS OF LOCOMOTION

 

           

 

Research

Team

Collaborations

Publications

 

 

RESEARCH

 

The field of research of our lab is the physiology and the biomechanics of terrestrial locomotion and the analysis of movements in sports (particularly in gymnastics and in track and field). At €first glance, there are many different modes of terrestrial locomotion: some vertebrates move on Earth on two legs while others use four. ey walk, amble, trot, pace, canter, gallop, hop, etc. Intrinsic factors (morphology, development, pathologies...) or extrinsic factors (slope or softness of the terrain, carrying a load, obstacles, gravity ...) may modify the pattern of locomotion (stride length, step frequency, muscular activity, ...). The aim of our research is to understand how the human system adapts to these particular situations.

The current projects are : 

• The effect of gravity on the muscular control of landing from a jump,
• Biomechanical and physiological aspects of jumping over an obstacle while running in human,
• The effect of a perturbation when running ant its motor control,
• The double contact phase in walking.

 

TEAM

 

Principal investigator

• Bénédicte SCHEPENS, PhD (Head of the research group)
• Guillaume BASTIEN, PhD
• Dominique DE JAEGER, PhD
• Norman C. HEGLUND, PhD
• Patrick WILLEMS, PhD

PhD students 

• Arthur DEWOLF
• Guillaume MEURISSE

Technical and administrative staff

 

• Leila AZZAZ, accountant
• Maxime CORNET, technician
• Sylviane DE DEURWAERDER, secretary Faculty of Motor Sciences
• Benvenuto JACOB, computer scientist
• Cécile LOMBART, industrial engineer
• Christian LEBEGUE, electronics technician
• Sébastien WILMET, computer scientist
• Cathy Friand, administrative assistant

Scientific collaborator

• Thierry GOSSEYE

 

 

 

COLLABORATIONS

 

 

Pedagogic collaborators 

• Stéphane BEAUME
• Thierry DELEUZE
• Jean-Philippe DEMARET
• Cécile DETERVILLE
• Frédéric LEROY 

Scientific National Collaborations 

• Peter AERTS (Laboratory for Functional Morphology, Department of Biology, Universiteit of Antwerp)
• Guillaume BASTIEN (Arsalis - Commission d'encadrement de physiologie et de biomécanique de la locomotion - UCL - FSM)
• Dirck DECLERCQ (Department of Movement and Sport Sciences, Universiteit of Gent)
• Christine DETREMBLEUR (Commission d'encadrement de réadaptation et de médecine physique - READ)
• Massimo PENTA, Thierry GOSSEYE (Arsalis)

Scientific International Collaborations 

• (Dipartimento di Fisiopatologia e dei Trapianti, Sezione di Fisiologia Umana, Universita Degli Studi di Milano – Italy)
• Pietro DI PRAMPERO (Istituto di Fisiologia Umana, Universita di Udine, Italy)
• Trevor DREW (Centre de Recherche en Sciences Neurologiques - Université de Montréal - Canada)
• Walter HERZOG (Human Performance Laboratory, University of Calgary, Canada)
• E. SEMINATI, G. PAVEI (Dept. of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan - Italie)
• Daniel THEISEN, Laboratoire de Recherche en Médecine du Sport, Centre de Recherche Public - Santé, GD de Luxembourg
• K. ZELIK, F. LACQUANTI (Scientific Institute Santa Lucia, Dept. of Neuroscience, University of Rome " Tor Vergata " - Italie)