Canada Research Chair unravels the brain’s role in movement While people like to describe themselves as left- or right-brained, we all rely on both hemispheres to function normally. However, neuroscientists haven’t been certain whether both contribute equally to the production of skilled movements. “There is an abundance of literature on sensory-motor integration and on goal-directed movements like reaching and grasping, but there has been little written about whether there are differences between the contribution of each hemisphere to these kind of behaviours,” says Dr. Claudia Gonzalez, a new researcher in the Department of Kinesiology and a Tier II Canada Research Chair (Sensorimotor Control). But Gonzalez’s research is helping to unravel this mystery. To determine whether there is a hemisphere bias involved in goal-directed movements, she presented participants with an object embedded in a visual illusion and asked them to grasp the object using each hand. Regardless of whether people were right- or
left-handed, their left hand was fooled by the illusion (i.e. their grip was scaled to the illusory size of the object) while their right grip reflected the real size of the object. These results suggest that the left hemisphere, which controls the right hand, may play a more important role than the right side in the integration of visuo-motor information. Gonzalez’s work is relevant to how people recover from brain injury. A more sophisticated understanding of how the two hemispheres control different facets of action and perception could ultimately help tailor rehabilitation practices to specific injuries. Her research may also explain why people favour one hand over the other (“handedness”). If the left hemisphere plays a more pivotal role in grasping – a primitive function crucial for survival – it makes sense that humans developed a more specialized right hand. “This research doesn’t only apply to people with brain injuries but to how we understand cerebral asymmetries,” Gonzalez explains.
Dr. Claudia Gonzalez
Professor revives female composer from the history books The name Hildegard von Bingen may not ring a bell, but her compositions, written in the 12th century, left an indelible mark on music – and women’s – history. It’s only been in recent decades that academics have begun to seriously study the German nun’s contributions to medieval music, explains Faculty of Fine Arts music professor and solo singer, Dr. Janet Youngdahl. For centuries, Hildegard von Bingen remained a footnote in history despite her enduring compositions and clever use of musical notation. Youngdahl, who specializes in performance practice (the study of how vocal music is performed), is studying the works and life of the composer. She says Hildegard was one of the 12th century’s most prolific composers. Her ornamental chants express an original view of the world. “She has a very unique, female sense of the
Dr. Janet Youngdahl
Sense of belonging critical in rural nursing placements Over the last 26 years, Dr. Monique Sedgwick, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, has worked in a variety of rural and urban hospitals as a staff nurse and hospital adminstrator. Sedgwick began teaching undergraduate nursing students in 1990 and has since developed an avid interest in undergraduate nursing students’ experience of preceptorship in the rural setting. Included in this broad research area is the notion of belonging, student professionalization and the rural hospital team’s impact on the student experience and socialization. “Becoming a professional, registered nurse is as much about joining that community as it is about learning the technical skills of what nurses do,” Sedgwick says. Unlike their urban counterparts who are often working within a single nursing unit, she explains that rural hospital nurses must be “expert generalists” who can provide nursing care in diverse medical, surgical and emergent situations.
Rural hospitals often lack specialized medical resources, requiring all health-care practitioners to band together to offer patients the best care possible, Sedgwick explains. For fourth-year students completing their preceptorships – in which they work alongside a registered nurse – working in a rural hospital offers a steep learning curve, as well as a unique opportunity to be part of a tightly knit health-care team. Students’ feeling of belonging has emerged as a cultural theme from the data she’s already collected and appears to be a key ingredient to their success in the preceptorship. This doesn’t surprise Sedgwick, since this is important for all nurses. “I think it is very important for nurses to connect with each other and with all members of the team,” she says. “It’s a very stressful job, and nurses need to be able to confer and consult with each other, so the best patient care is provided.” Dr. Monique Sedgwick
divine, and she used all sorts of beautiful imagery she invented herself to talk about God from a female perspective.” Possibly to circumvent public censure about her work as a composer – which wasn’t something women usually did – Hildegard asserted her work was a divine calling. “She claimed she didn’t know how to write music and that everything she wrote was a direct revelation from God,” Youngdahl explains. Youngdahl first encountered the historic figure as a doctoral student, when she met a woman performing Hildegard’s works. Now, as a new professor, Youngdahl has earned a U of L Internal SSHRC grant to continue her research and involve the choir and a student research assistant in bringing Hildegard’s works to life for modern audiences. “She was a wonderful thinker and someone who needs to be remembered,” she says.