News

The new semester is well underway! To kick things off, we put our knowledge into action by taking our skills out of the lab and into the bowling alley to conduct an informal experiment in motor control (N = 12).

The start of 2026 was also marked by the launch of two new projects. The first examines how different parts of the brain interact during guided motor imagery, exploring how specific instructions influence interactions across parts of the brain important for movement. The second investigates what is acquired through different modalities of covert practice, helping us better understand how covert practice can be applied to learn motor skills.

Building on this momentum, we had a great time hosting the Motor Skills Lab from our Vancouver campus (PI Nicola Hodges) for a two‑day meeting focused on aphantasia (the inability to form mental images) and discussed distinctions between the processes that support action observation and those that support motor imagery.

This Fall has been a season of building momentum, with each milestone propelling our lab forward. A great time was had presenting our work at the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology (SCAPPS). Trainee Celine Balay has joined an NSERC CREATE training program focused on integrating physical, physiological, and psychological aspects of human comfort into engineering product design practices.

SCAPPS presentations! Left: Sofia Knopf, Right: Marlo Spence

We’re thrilled to share that a paper led by trainee and former Mitacs Globalink Intern Vaiedhi Wagh in collaboration with the Brain Behaviour Lab, has been published in the Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation. And we’re excited to announce that our lab, together with Drs. Welsh (U of Toronto), Neyedli (Dalhousie U), Manson (Queens U), and Karlinksy (Cal State U San Bernardino, has been awarded a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Planning and Dissemination grant towards finding better ways to connect the tools used in human movement research labs with real-world use.

After a summer filled with thesis defences – big congrats to Sara Klick and Celine Balay for their successful Master’s defences – testing new set ups, data collection, and plenty of outdoor time, we are ready to kick off the new semester. Stay tuned for the launch of new projects and preliminary findings. And looking forward to the upcoming meeting for the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology (SCAPPS) where Marlo Spence and Sofia Knopf will be presenting work conducted during their summer studentships!