Cara Fowler receives NEACSM Undergraduate Research Experience Grant for research on cold exposure and performance

During the spring semester, Fowler, as the principal investigator, and her classmates from an environmental physiology course, developed and taught by her research advisor Lara Carlson, Ph.D., FACSM, traveled to Iceland for the data collection. The purpose of Fowler鈥檚 project was to examine whether an acute cold exposure will negatively impact athletic performance.

According to Carlson, despite vast amounts of research on the effects of a heat stress on performance variables, there has been significantly less inquiry focusing on the effects of a cold environment on athletic performance tests. While it is known that cold causes constriction of blood vessels to the skin, which in turn decreases blood flow to working muscles during exercise and consequently impairs muscle function, it has been reported that the cold may impair neuromuscular performance, as well. Carlson felt that these findings were somewhat limited, however. Therefore, she and Fowler thought it was important to examine the consequences of acute environmental changes that athletes potentially experience during competition in cold climates. Data was collected both here in Maine and in Iceland.

Fowler is now completing the data analysis with the assistance of Michael Lawrence, M.S., manager of the Motion Analysis Laboratory in the Department of Physical Therapy, in preparation for a presentation at a regional and national sports medicine meeting this November.

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