Jayne Kalmar
Areas of Expertise
- Kinesiology, Sports Science and Biomechanics
Biography
I received my PhD in Biology from York University in 2005 and my MSc in Kinesiology from York University in 1998.
Prior to joining Laurier, I completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Spinal Cord Research Centre at the University of Manitoba (2005-2008).
As a neuromuscular physiologist and exercise neuroscientist, my broad interests are the neural mechanisms of muscle force production and movement, neural adaptations to muscle use. My NSERC-funded program of research is focused on spinal and cortical motor neuron adaptations to fatigue, task-dependent modulation of motor neuron output, and the role of spinal motor neuron persistent inward currents in human neuromuscular function. Most of my work is conducted using a human model, employing techniques such as surface and intramuscular electromyography, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and percutaneous nerve stimulation to explore mechanisms of plasticity. The long-term objective of my current NSERC grant is to elucidate sex-dependent and task-dependent spinal and cortical contributions to neuromuscular fatigue during functionally-relevant movement. This research is significant because until we understand the central mechanisms that modulate muscle output in healthy people, we cannot fully understand the mechanisms of impaired motor function in injury, aging and disease