Professor | Associate Director Infrastructure & Strategic Planning
Email: mark.carpenter@ubc.ca
Phone: 604 822 8614
Lab Website: Neural Control of Posture & Movement Laboratory
Office: Osborne Centre Unit 1, Room 213 | 6108 Thunderbird Boulevard, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z3
Publications: Google Scholar
Education
Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, 2004, Post-Doctoral Fellowship
University of Waterloo, 2001, PhD, (Kinesiology)
University of Waterloo, 1998, MSc, (Kinesiology)
University of Waterloo, 1996, BSc, Honours (Kinesiology)
Courses Taught
KIN 473 Neuroanatomy of Human Movement
Research Area
Research Interests
Publications
See Google Scholar for an up-to-date list of publications.
Research and Teaching
The first objective of my research is to identify the neural, musculo-skeletal and psychological factors that contribute to balance deficits and falls associated with age, Parkinson’s disease, vestibular loss and spinal cord injury. The second objective is to identify optimal exercise, training and treatment strategies to improve age and disease-specific balance deficits and reduce the occurrence and impact of falls. The Neural Control of Posture and Movement Laboratory features a comprehensive approach to studying dynamic control of balance by combining various neuro-physiological and biomechanical techniques, including surface and intra-muscular electromyography, 3D full-body motion analysis and force measurement coupled with quantitative and qualitative assessment of perceived and physiological effects of fear and anxiety. Virtual reality will be used to manipulate balance-related anxiety and recreate the environmental conditions that lead to falls in everyday life. Virtual environments will be integrated with a unique moving balance platform capable of producing unexpected multi-directional balance disturbances.