What Are You Doing? with Dr. Jae Kun Shim

Welcome again to our running feature "What are you doing?" which allows us to look into the research of one of our distinguished faculty.

In today's feature, we're throwing caution to the wind and looking ahead at future research by Dr. Jae Kun Shim, the Director of the Neuromechanics Labratory in the Kinesiology Department. Dr. Shim is slated to received over $2 million in grants to study the effects of neuromuscular training of intrinsic hand muscles on hand dexterity in elderly persons.

Dr. Shim received the grant through the Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) Program, which offers grants and collaboration opportunities between companies and University of Maryland faculty. Dr. Shim will partner with Recovery Science, Inc., which will provide monetary and in-kind supports for the study.

------

The study aims to investigate the effects of neuromuscular training of intrinsic hand muscles (i.e., finger-moving muscles inside the hand) on hand dexterity in elderly subjects. This will be done through extensive testing, with the hopes that the results will enable the development of a portable/wearable hand exoskeleton for differential training of these target muscles.

"As humans, we take for granted the importance of our hand and fingers unless we experience their functional deficits," Dr. Shim said. "Although functional deficits of hands and fingers have various causes, the consequences of these deficits are often devastating to anyone who experiences them."

Previous research into the field has suggested that aging has a greater impact on intrinsic hand muscles decreasing in strength than extrinsic muscles (i.e., finger-moving muscles located outside the hand or in the forearm). As those smaller intrinsic muscles are responsible for fine motor control in hands and fingers, researchers have hypothesized that decreases in the hand dexterity of elderly persons may be due to greater sarcopenia (i.e., the decrease of muscle volume and quality) in intrinsic muscles.

"It is necessary to test the hypothesis and develop an innovative device capable of independent training of intrinsic and extrinsic hand muscles in the elderly," Dr. Shim said. "This MIPS and Recovery Science-funded project will investigate this issue."

As Director of the Neuromechanics Laboratory in the Department of Kinesiology, Dr. Shim's recent research has examined how the central nervous system controls the human motor system, including previous MIPS-funded projects looking into the wrist as well as strength training.

With this grant, Dr. Shim said that his research focus is shifting "toward community-outreaching applications based on the knowledge we have accumulated over the last several years: the applications of scientific findings in the prevention and rehabilitation of aging."

-------

Dr. Jae Kun Shim serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. In 2005, Dr. Shim earned his Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University in Kinesiology with an emphasis on biomechanics and motor control. For more on his research at the Neuromechanics Laboratory, visit their Web site at http://www.sph.umd.edu/KNES/faculty/jkshim/neuromechanics/index.html.

The Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) program accelerates the commercialization of technology in Maryland by jointly funding collaborative R&D projects between companies and University System of Maryland faculty. MIPS provides funding, matched by participating companies, for university-based research projects that help companies develop new products. Fore more information, visit their Web site at http://www.mips.umd.edu/.