Wear lecture examines motor units in exercise Dec. 5

Trent J. Herda, associate professor and director of the Neuromechanics Laboratory, from the Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Kansas.
Trent J. Herda, associate professor and director of the Neuromechanics Laboratory, from the Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Kansas.

The Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences is hosting the 2018 Carlos Wear Lecture from noon-1 p.m., Dec. 5 in the Cottonwood Room of the Nebraska East Union. The guest speaker is Trent J. Herda, associate professor and director of the Neuromechanics Laboratory, from the Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Kansas. The event is free for all UNL students, staff and faculty.

Herda’s lecture is titled “Considering Motor Units in Exercise and Physical Activity.” Motor units are the link between neural and mechanical mechanisms of human locomotion. Skeletal muscle fibers that comprise motor units are plastic and adapt to stress or disuse. This presentation will cover the role of motor units during exercise and physical activity and why motor units should be considered in interventions to combat aging, childhood obesity and resiliency in Marines.

The lecture series is named for Carlos Wear who was a professor in the Men’s Physical Education Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the 1950s and 60s. For more information, contact Joel Cramer, professor in the CEHS Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences at jcramer@gmail.com.