The event includes a full day of lectures (24.9) where we will hear about recent advances in locomotion and movement analysis, musculoskeletal imaging and brain/neuroscience research. The second day (25.9) is aimed primarily at early career researchers and includes a selection of lab demos on brain stimulation (TMS and multi-locus TMS), citizen science/markerless pose estimation, and imaging.
Frontiers in Human Biomechanics: From Brain to Muscle
Annual Symposium organised by the Faculty of Sport & Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. 24-25.9.2026.
Info
Programme
Thursday 24th of September 2026
Session 1: Dynamics of human movement (Chair: Prof. Neil Cronin)
9:50 – 10:00 Welcome/opening words (Prof. Neil Cronin, JYU)
10:00 – 10:30 Associate Professor Lauri Stenroth (University of Eastern Finland)
10:30 – 11:00 Dr. Juha-Pekka Kulmala (HUS, JAMK)
11:00 – 11:45 Keynote 1 – Prof. Athanassios Bissas (University of Gloucestershire, UK): Biomechanical analysis of elite athletes in competition settings
11:45 – 13:00 Lunch
Session 2: Recent Advances in Musculoskeletal Imaging (Chair: Prof. Taija Finni)
13:00 – 13:15 PhD / ECR
13:15 – 13:30 PhD/ECR
13:30 – 13:45 Dr. Raad Khair (JYU): Title TBC
13:45 – 14:15 Dr. Francesco Cenni (JYU): Title TBC
14:15 – 14:45 Speaker TBC
14:45 – 15:15 Coffee break
Session 3: From brain to muscle (Chair: Prof. Harri Piitulainen)
15:15 – 16:00 Keynote 2 – Prof. Tiina Parviainen (Department of Psychology, JYU): Title TBC
16:00 – 16:15 PhD student Anna Nätkynmäki (JYU): High-PAS mechanisms in spinal cord injury rehabilitation
16:15 – 16:30 PhD student Maija Siltala (JYU): Mapping proprioceptive representations of fingers with fMRI
16:30 – 16:45 PhD student Amin Chetouani (JYU & University of Vienna, Austria): Effects of an ischemic block of Ia-afferents on maximal contractions
16:45 Closing words
Friday 25th of September 2026
9:00 – 11:30
Lab demonstrations, primarily for early career researchers, each lasting around 30 minutes. Participants rotate so they see all demos (pre-registration required):
1. What’s new in muscle-tendon imaging? (PhD student Maria Sukanen, Dr. Francesco Cenni, Dr. Raad Khair)
2. TMS and EEG during balance perturbation (PhD student Joona Juurakko, PhD student Samuli Nevanperä)
3. Citizen Science tools to study human movement (Prof. Neil Cronin, Dr. Matti Hyvärinen)
4. Multi-locus TMS for stimulating multiple brain regions (PhD student Vesa Onnia, PhD student Sakari Vekki)
Registration
Registration will open in March 2026.
Registration is free for all JYU staff and students, as well as affiliates (e.g. JAMK, KIHU, Central Hospital of Central Finland). For external participants, a small registration fee may be charged (likely around €50), but we will update this when we have finalised the budget, as we aim to make the event as cheap as possible for participants.
Venue
The lectures on 24.9 will take place in the Liikunta building, room L302 on the 3rd floor. The street address is: Keskussairaalantie 4
Jyväskylä, Finland 40600.
Those who sign up for demos on 25.9 will be sent a reminder with further information shortly before the event. The demos will be held in the Viveca building, which is a short walk away from the main Liikunta building. The street address is: Rautpohjankatu 8, 40700 Jyväskylä.
For those travelling to Jyväskylä from abroad, please see this link for further information and travel guidance: https://visitjyvaskyla.fi/en/arriving/
Accommodation
For accommodation options in Jyväskylä please see the following link:
https://www.jyu.fi/en/about-us/academic-events/accommodation-in-jyvaskyla
We recommend hotel Alba, which is a short walk from the venue, and is situated right next to Lake Jyväsjärvi.