Laboratory Name:

Exercise & Sport Psychophysiology Laboratory

Institution:

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Key Faculty:

Charles H. Hillman (Director)

 Contact:

Charles H. Hillman

217-244-2663 

chhillma@uiuc.edu

http://www.kines.uiuc.edu/labs/psychophys/hillman/index.html 

 Research Overview:

The primary focus of the Exercise & Sport Psychophysiology Laboratory (ESPLAB) is to study the relationship between physical activity and mental health with particular interest in the aging brain. The aim of this area of study is to better understand factors that relate to the increased health and effective functioning of older adults. “Specifically, our research focuses on the relationship between both acute and chronic physical activity participation and executive control function from a neuroelectric perspective,” says Charles Hillman, ESPLAB Director. “Using event-related potential measurement, we examine the relationship of cardiovascular activity on underlying processes involved in attention, memory, and cognitive processing speed.” Generally, results from this line of research have suggested that cardiovascular activity benefits older adults' cognitive processing for tasks that require greater amounts of executive control; an effect that is less pronounced for tasks that require lesser amounts of executive control. Accordingly, the findings indicate that cardiovascular activity may have specific effects on more effortful cognitive processes, rather than a more general benefit on overall cognitive function. This work is currently funded by the National Institute on Aging to conduct a randomized clinical intervention to better understand the relationship between exercise behavior and cognitive function in elderly adults.

A second focus of the ESPLAB is to examine the relationship between emotional reactivity and motivated approach-withdrawal behavior. Accordingly, ESPLAB researchers have employed a novel measure, center of foot pressure, to study the effects of emotion-eliciting stimuli on motivated behavior. Generally, results from this area of study have indicated that individuals exhibit marked withdrawal from unpleasant or potentially threatening stimuli compared to pleasant and neutral stimuli.

A third focus of the ESPLAB is to gain an understanding of affective responses to perceptions of oneself. Using psychophysiological measurement (facial electromyography, startle reflex, etc.), ESPLAB researchers focus on the relationship between aging, physical activity, and body image from an emotional perspective. Current and future research will focus on various populations, such as college-aged and elderly men and women, as well as athletes. Implications for this line of research pertain to factors related to the development of social physique anxiety and disordered eating.

The focus of the research conducted in the ESPLAB is highly consistent with the overall mission of both the Department of Kinesiology and the College of Applied Life Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Specifically, both the Department and College have been integral in the development of the university-wide Initiative on Aging and the Disabilities Research Institute. The ESPLAB is ideally placed to examine issues related to the impact of aging, disease, and active lifestyles on a wide variety of cognitive and sensory behaviors in older adults as well as in individuals with chronic conditions and disabilities.

 Recent Publications:

Hillman, C. H., Weiss, E. P., Hagberg, J. M., & Hatfield, B. D. (2002). The relationship to age and cardiovascular fitness to cognitive and motor processes. Psychophysiology, 39, 1-10.

Hillman, C. H., Snook, E. M., & Jerome, G. J. (2003). Acute cardiovascular exercise and executive control function: A P3 study. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 48, 307-314.

Hillman, C. H., Rosengren, K. S., & Smith, D. P. (in press). Emotion and motivated behavior: Postural adjustments to affective picture viewing. Biological Psychology.

Schupp, H. T., Cuthbert, B. N., Bradley, M. M., Hillman, C. H., Hamm, A. O., & Lang, P. J. (in press). Brain processes in emotional perception: Motivated attention. Cognition & Emotion.

Sport Psychology Lab Profiles