Our lab’s mission is to pursue collaborative, rigorous, reproducible, and accessible science to enhance knowledge of:

  • Human movement and its awe-inspiring, dynamic complexity in neurotypical and neuro-divergent individuals
  • How the brain contributes to individual differences in sensory and motor engagement and changes during maturation, learning, and experience
  • How movement patterns influence an individual’s participation in meaningful activities (i.e., occupations)

La misión de nuestro laboratorio es realizar ciencia colaborativa, rigurosa, reproducible y accesible para mejorar el conocimiento de:

  • El movimiento humano y su impresionante complejidad dinámica en individuos neurotípicos y neuro-divergentes.
  • Cómo el cerebro contribuye a diferencias individuales en la participación sensorial y motora y en cambios durante la maduración, el aprendizaje y experiencia.
  • Cómo los patrones de movimiento influyen en la participación de un individuo en actividades significativas (es decir, ocupaciones).

Lab in the News

  • 2nd place award!

    Jamie Kortanek’s poster, Quality of Life in Autistic Children: The Impact of ADHD Trait Prominence, Functional Performance, and Reporter, won second place at the OT Summit of Scholars conference & first place poster at the …

  • Outreach event

    In August, Monica and Amelia had the chance to host a table at El Mercadito Hispano, the weekly community farmers market at Centro Hispano in Madison. They were invited to share brain health resources, including …

  • Prelims passed

    Monica Duran passed her initial prelims for the PhD portion of her MD-PhD program. She submitted the grant for this work in early March. She plans to look at brain correlates of the arousal network, …

  • Dr. Emily Skaletski and Dr. Brittany Travers in front of a dark, wood-paneled wall.

    Congratulations, Dr. Skaletski!

    Emily Skaletski successfully defended her dissertation on Monday, April 14 at the Waisman Center. Following graduation, she will continue her research career at Northwestern University with a Community Living & Participation Fellowship, funded by NIDILRR, …

  • Monica and Jacqueline standing in front of a podium. Screen behind them with images and text in Spanish

    Community presentation

    MD–PhD student, Monica Duran and undergraduate, Jacqueline Cano gave a presentation on research in the Motor and Brain Development Lab to a Spanish-speaking audience at the Catholic Multicultural Center early in the Spring 2025 semester. 

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