Biology

Dr. Patrick Ledwidge, Assistant Professor in the WKU Department of Psychological Sciences, has been awarded a prestigious four-year grant projected at $600,968 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

Funded through the NIH R16 Support for Research Excellence (SuRE) First program by the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal, and Skin Diseases, the award will support innovative research examining how cognitive and motor brain processes influence injury risk during high-speed athletic maneuvers.

The project, titled “Electrocortical Dynamics of Reactive Gait Adjustment Biomechanics,” combines mobile electroencephalography (EEG) and motion capture technology, an integrated methodology known as Mobile Brain/Body Imaging (MoBI). The study aims to determine how individual differences in brain dynamics predict safe versus injury-risk lower-extremity movement patterns when athletes make quick changes of direction.

While previous studies capturing brain activity during dynamic movement have focused primarily on treadmill walking, Dr. Ledwidge’s lab has designed a specialized methodology to capture high-fidelity brain recordings down to the millisecond during naturalistic, running-based maneuvers.

“In this project, we’re integrating mobile EEG and motion capture to determine the cognitive and motor brain processes that are used to execute quick changes of direction during athletic maneuvers, ” Dr. Ledwidge said. “What makes this project special is, as far as we know, this will be the first project to determine how these brain dynamics are utilized in running-based maneuvers, to which previously this has only been determined when walking.” 

The research holds significant potential applications for sports medicine and physical health. Approximately two million knee ligament tears and ankle sprains occur annually in the United States, and these lower-extremity injuries represent the most common injury among active-duty service members. By uncovering how brain activity predicts injury risk, the study aims to pave the way for prevention strategies that ultimately reduce lower-extremity injuries.

Beyond the scientific impact, the award strengthens research infrastructure within WKU’s Ogden College of Science & Engineering and the Department of Psychological Sciences while offering students hands-on learning opportunities. Student researchers will be involved in every step of the project, guiding 36 participants through informed consent, applying equipment, interpreting biosignals, processing and cleaning data, and disseminating results in peer-reviewed publications and at annual meetings.

“I’ve had a great team of students since I’ve been here in 2023 that helped me execute and publish findings from the feasibility study that paved the way for this project,” Dr. Ledwidge said. “This study will support many students’ research experiences, which will help prepare them for graduate and medical schools.”

The funding comes at an especially competitive time for federal awards, highlighting the strength and growth of undergraduate and graduate research at WKU.

“This award is particularly exciting given budget cuts at NIH in the last couple of years and the very quick and evolving changes at NIH that make it harder to get funded,” Dr. Ledwidge said. “I hope this project shows students the breadth of research questions and methods that we use as psychologists to study mind-brain-behavior relationships. That is, psychology is MUCH more than just the study of disordered/clinical behavior and mental health.”