Frontiers in Human Biomechanics: From Brain to Muscle

Name: Frontiers in Human Biomechanics: From Brain to Muscle
Start: 2026-09-24T06:50:00
End: 2026-09-25T09:00:00

Annual Symposium organised by the Faculty of Sport & Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. 24-25.9.2026. Lectures in the Liikunta building (L302), demos in the Viveca building.

Info

Event date

24.09.2026 09:50 - 25.09.2026 12:00

Event type

Congresses and conferences

Event language

English

Event payment

A paid event

Welcome to the 26th annual international symposium series organised by Biology of Physical Activity researchers from the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä.

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.

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Programme

Thursday 24^th of September 2026 (Liikunta building, room L302)

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 (at own expense)

Session 2: Recent Advances in Musculoskeletal Imaging (Chair: Prof. Taija Finni)

13:00 – 13:15 PhD student Maria Sukanen (JYU): Title TBC

13:15 – 13:30 PhD student Yu Chou Lin (JYU): Title TBC

13:30 – 13:45 Dr. Raad Khair (JYU): Title TBC

13:45 – 14:15 Dr. Francesco Cenni (JYU): Title TBC

14:15 – 14:45 Dr. Zhongzheng Wang (KTH, Stockholm): Using MRI to quantify muscle composition

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 – 17:00 Dr. Pedro Valadao (University of Graz, Austria): Muscle–tendon unit length–dependent neuromuscular regulation and its adaptation to training in cerebral palsy

17: 00 Closing words

Friday 25^th of September 2026 (Viveca building)

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 Krista Vohlakari)

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 who are attending in person, the registration fee is €75. For those who will attend via live stream, the registration fee is €50.

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.