The Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences (DSCS) at the University of Brescia has been awarded funding of 188,500 euros by the European Commission under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) - Postdoctoral Fellowship call.
The MSCA are the most significant in terms of doctoral and postdoctoral training within Horizon Europe, the European Union's framework program for research and innovation. The MSCA aim to enhance the creative and innovative potential of researchers with a PhD and to acquire new skills through international, interdisciplinary, and intersectoral mobility.
The University of Brescia will welcome Dr. J. Greig Inglis, who, for the next two years, will conduct his research titled: "MUDecomp - Optimization of surface multi-channel electrode arrays and motor unit extraction in underrepresented populations" at the DSCS under the supervision of Prof. Francesco Negro, Professor of Methods and Didactics of Motor Activities, a previous MSCA awardee and currently the recipient of funding under the ERC-Consolidator Grants call with the research project: “Induction of NEuromuscular Plasticity for natural motor rehabiliTATION" – INcEPTION, dedicated to the development of innovative systems for functional motor recovery in patients with central nervous system damage.
The MUDecomp Project
Human movement is the result of complex integration of the nervous and musculoskeletal systems. Identifying the behavior of active motor units during voluntary contractions is essential for assessing neuromuscular control. Recent advances have allowed non-invasive identification from the skin surface through high-density electromyographic electrode arrays. These techniques, through a process called decomposition, allow for greater accuracy in neuromuscular evaluation but have been developed mainly on populations of healthy, young, and primarily male individuals. Generalizing these techniques to individuals with different anatomical and physiological characteristics is essential for improving diagnosis and rehabilitation in clinical populations. The MUDecomp project will use innovative approaches to study the behavior of motor units by adapting the recording and analysis of high-density surface electromyography to underrepresented populations, such as females, the elderly, or those with neuromuscular disorders, to advance the electrophysiological diagnosis of chronic neuromuscular diseases.
Dr. J. Greig Inglis, already involved in the INcEPTION project, earned his undergraduate degree in Physical Education at Brock University (Canada), a Master's degree in Exercise Science at East Tennessee State University (US), and a PhD in Health Bioscience, specializing in clinical biomechanics and neurophysiology, also at Brock University. Dr. Inglis has over 600 citations, and his research interests include sex differences in the neural control of human movement and the behavior of motor units in underrepresented populations.