Movement plays a key role in our lives, as it provides the only means we have to interact with the world and other people. The object of study of the IFKB is the nature and significance of human movement in general and with respect to health and well-being in particular. We are interested in questions such as: How does the human body produce movement? What forces and moments are involved in the production of movement, and how do these forces and moments affect bodily tissues and structures? What are the energy demands for human movement and how is the energy required for movement liberated and consumed? What perceptual information is used in the control of movement and how is this control organized such that the resulting motor action is efficient and effective? How do these formative aspects of movement – i.e., force production, energy consumption and informational control – change adaptively due to fatigue and as a consequence of life-span development, learning and rehabilitation, and how might these changes be channelled in a desired direction? In general, these questions cannot be answered by a single discipline, but require integration of applications of methods and concepts from different disciplines (e.g., anatomy, (molecular) biology, biochemistry, physiology, neurophysiology, biomechanics, psychology, and clinical disciplines like orthopaedics, neurology, rehabilitation medicine, physiotherapy, traumatology and gerontology).

The main mission of the IFKB is to generate fundamental and clinical knowledge about healthy and pathological movement and the functioning of the human motor apparatus.

The major scientific missions of the IFKB are:

1. The development of a theoretical framework, based on empirical research, for understanding the execution, control and constraints of normal human movement;

2. The development of an understanding of disordered human movement as a result of various diseases, trauma and age-related impairments;

3. The integration of knowledge about human movement from different disciplines, both basic and applied, especially in the understanding of adaptation, aging and fatigue;

4. The application of the understanding of human movement to specific problem areas, populations (e.g., the elderly) and activities, as encountered in orthopaedics, rehabilitation, ergonomics and sports.

The research focusses on three themes. Each theme consists of a number of research lines or subprogrammes.

1. Mechanics
   
   • TA1: Mechanics of musculoskeletal injury and adaptation
   • TA2: Mechanobiology of musculoskeletal tissues
   • TA3: Joint disorders and bone healing


2. Metabolism
   
   • TB1: (Patho-) physiology and mechanics in human performance
   • TB2: Neuromuscular and neurometabolic disorders
   • TB3: Respiratory muscle pathology in COPD


3. Control
   
   • TC1: Coordination dynamics
   • TC2: Perceptual motor control: development, learning and performance
   • TC3: The biophysics and psychophysics of sensorimotor control
   • TC4: Disorders of central motor function and rehabilitation