Jesse Charlton

Like lightning, our movement patterns rarely follow the same path even when performing the same task repeatedly. This subtle variability in our movement is how the brain constantly explores new strategies to optimize motor control. This allows us to quickly adapt to new environmental demands (e.g., bump in the sidewalk) or changes in our bodies (e.g., injury or pain). Chronic pain is often associated with musculoskeletal injuries and is a leading cause of disability worldwide. Unfortunately, people living with chronic pain often have less of this natural movement exploration, which can make it difficult to adapt to new movement-related challenges. My research seeks to unravel how pain affects this relationship between movement variability and motor adaptation, using knee pain as the model. In these studies, I use electrical stimulation to create experimental (artificial) knee pain, since naturally occurring pain fluctuates and is difficult to control. By synchronizing the painful electrical stimulation with walking motions, we can precisely control the timing and severity of pain so we can measure the variability-adaptation process in real-time. This custom designed system fits in a small backpack and can be worn in any environment, allowing me to conduct this research outside of the lab and during activities of daily living. With this system, I will determine how human movement adapts to knee pain and the role that movement variability plays in supporting this adaptation process. The results will have important implications on our understand of motor adaptation and will provide insight into strategies to optimize movement rehabilitation for people with painful conditions.