Christopher K. Rhea

Dr. Rhea’s primary research interest is the control of gait and balance. Dr. Rhea’s team has leveraged smartphone technology by creating an Android-based app to identify neurological dysfunction from movement patterns. Dr. Rhea’s research team has also developed novel rehabilitation applications using virtual reality (VR) technology by creating avatars and other virtual environments to assist in the re-development of a patient’s walking ability. Dr. Rhea’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense (DoD), US Navy, and the Women’s Football Foundation.

There are 34 included publications by Christopher K. Rhea :

TitleDateViewsBrief Description
Center of Pressure Regularity With and Without Stochastic Resonance Stimulation in Stable and Unstable Ankles 2014 1746 Chronic ankle instability (CAI) is associated with sensorimotor deficits, which may affect dynamic complexity by constraining the postural control system. Stochastic resonance stimulation (SRS) may restore sensory function and promote healthy postura...
Changes in posture following a single session of long-duration water immersion 2018 316 Transitioning between different sensory environments is known to affect sensorimotor function and postural control. Water immersion presents a novel environmental stimulus common to many professional and recreational pursuits, but is not well-studied...
Characteristics of Stride Behavior During Treadmill Walking and Stationary Stepping 2014 2432 Much has been learned about the characteristics of gait in overground and treadmill walking. However, there are many contexts in which overground or treadmill walking might not be possible, such as in home-based physical therapy. In those cases, a su...
Control of adaptive locomotion: effect of visual obstruction and visual cues in the environment 2006 2734 Visual information regarding obstacle position and size is used for planning and controlling adaptive gait. However, the manner in which visual cues in the environment are used in the control of gait is not fully known. This research examined the eff...
The effect of the visual characteristics of obstacles on risk of tripping and gait parameters during locomotion 2011 1863 Purpose: Injuries from falls are a serious health issue. Approaches to preventing falls should consider increasing relevant visual information of an obstacle. Obstacle parameters, such as position and height, may be specified by the visible s...
Entrainment to a real time fractal visual stimulus modulates fractal gait dynamics 2014 4481 Fractal patterns characterize healthy biological systems and are considered to reflect the ability of the system to adapt to varying environmental conditions. Previous research has shown that fractal patterns in gait are altered following natural agi...
Follow the leader: Visual control of speed in pedestrian following 2014 1601 When people walk together in groups or crowds they must coordinate their walking speed and direction with their neighbors. This paper investigates how a pedestrian visually controls speed when following a leader on a straight path (one-dimensional fo...
Fractal Gait Patterns Are Retained after Entrainment to a Fractal Stimulus 2014 2024 Previous work has shown that fractal patterns in gait can be altered by entraining to a fractal stimulus. However, little is understood about how long those patterns are retained or which factors may influence stronger entrainment or retention. In ex...
Gait dynamics following variable and constant speed gait training in individuals with chronic stroke 2012 2604 Variable practice may be beneficial for learning novel motor patterns. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a variable practice intervention during treadmill walking on the dynamic properties of gait. Using a counterbalanced desig...
Gait dynamics when wearing a treadmill safety harness 2016 1944 Nonlinear dynamics quantifies gait variability patterns, which can be useful in evaluating functional ability. A commonly used nonlinear technique is detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). Safety support structures have previously been shown to alter ...
Gait Performance is not Influenced by Working Memory When Walking at a Self-selected Pace 2014 2409 Gait performance exhibits patterns within the stride-to-stride variability that can be indexed using detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). Previous work employing DFA has shown that gait patterns can be influenced by constraints, such as natural agin...
The impact of low-level blast exposure on brain function after a one-day tactile training and the ameliorating effect of a jugular vein compression neck collar device 2019 266 Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) personnel who conduct breacher exercises are at risk for blast-related head trauma. We aimed to investigate the potential impact of low-level blast exposure during breacher training on the neural functioning of work...
The influence of attentional focus on balance control over seven days of training 2018 1790 This study examined the training effect of attentional focus (external focus, internal focus, or no focus instructions) on a dynamic balance task. Participants completed baseline balance testing, seven consecutive days of dynamic balance board traini...
Influence of practice schedules and attentional focus on skill development and retention 2015 569 Focus of attention during dual-tasks and practice schedules are important components of motor skill performance and learning; often studied in isolation. The current study required participants to complete a simple key-pressing task under a blocked o...
Influence of an unexpected perturbation on adaptive gait behavior 2011 1846 During locomotion over uneven terrain, gait must be adapted to avoid a trip. In the event of a foot-obstacle contact, the body reactively responds to the perturbation. However, it is unknown if any proactive adjustments are made in subsequent strides...
Interpretation of postural control may change due to data processing techniques 2015 1502 Postural control is commonly assessed by quantifying center of pressure (CoP) variability during quiet stance. CoP data is traditionally filtered prior to analysis. However, some researchers suggest filtering may lead to undesirable consequences. Fur...
Locomotor Adaptation versus Perceptual Adaptation when Stepping Over an Obstacle with a Height Illusion 2010 2163 Background During locomotion, vision is used to perceive environmental obstacles that could potentially threaten stability; locomotor action is then modified to avoid these obstacles. Various factors such as lighting and texture can make these envir...
The M&M approach: using mental and mechanical strategies in your teaching and coaching 2007 1049 Mental and mechanical (M&M) techniques are very useful in teaching and coaching. Mental techniques are strategies that enhance movement through psychological preparation, such as using imagery to practice a skill. Mechanical techniques are strategies...
Multiplanar Knee Laxity and Perceived Function During Activities of Daily Living and Sport 2015 1433 Context: Greater knee-joint laxity may lead to a higher risk of knee injury, yet it is unknown whether results of self-reported outcome measures are associated with distinct knee-laxity profiles.
Objective: To identify the extent t...
Multiple timescales in postural dynamics associated with vision and a secondary task are revealed by wavelet analysis 2009 2027 Discrete wavelet analysis is used to resolve the center of pressure time series data into several timescale components, providing new insights into postural control. Healthy young and elderly participants stood quietly with their eyes open or closed ...
A new measure of the CoP trajectory in postural sway: Dynamics of heading change 2014 3252 The maintenance of upright stance requires the simultaneous control of posture in both the anterior–posterior (AP) and medial–lateral (ML) dimensions. Postural sway is typically measured by quantifying the movement of the center of pressure (CoP) in ...
Noise and complexity in human postural control: interpreting the different estimations of entropy. 2011 2127 BACKGROUND: Over the last two decades, various measures of entropy have been used to examine the complexity of human postural control. In general, entropy measures provide information regarding the health, stability and adaptability of the postural s...
Obstacle crossing in a virtual environment transfers to a real environment 2018 1586 Obstacle crossing, such as stepping over a curb, becomes more challenging with natural aging and could lead to obstacle-related trips and falls. To reduce fall-risk, obstacle training programs using physical obstacles have been developed, but come wi...
Postural control entropy is increased when adopting an external focus of attention 2019 1642 Falls in older adults are a public health challenge due to their influence on well-being and health-care costs. One way to address this challenge is to discover new methods to enhance postural control in older adults so they are better prepared to ma...
Postural control in older adults during and following a 12-week balance training intervention with attentional focus instructions 2021 855 Adults (N?=?54, 80.78?±?6.08 years) who reported falling during the previous 12 months participated in a 12-week wobble board training program with internal focus or external focus (EF) instructions. Verbal manipulation checks were performed after tr...
Power considerations for the application of detrended fluctuation analysis in gait variability studies 2017 1533 2017-2018 UNCG University Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund Grant Winner--- The assessment of gait variability using stochastic signal processing techniques such as detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) has been shown to be a sensitive tool for ev...
Relationship between changes in vestibular sensory reweighting & postural control complexity 2017 803 Complexity measures have become increasingly prominent in the postural control literature. Several studies have found associations between clinical balance improvements and complexity, but the relationship between sensory reweighting and complexity c...
The science of cup stacking: a review of how prior research “stacks up” 2006 4177 Sport stacking is used in more than 10,000 physical education, after school, and sports programs. Once considered a recreational activity, the sport now has state and national competitions. Sport stacking manufacturers claim the sport of sport stacki...
The state of behavior change techniques in virtual reality rehabilitation of neurologic populations: A systematic review 2019 413 Background: Neurologic rehabilitation aims to restore function, address barriers to activity, and improve quality of life in those with injury to the nervous system. Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a useful tool to enhance neurorehabilitation int...
Towards evidence-based smartphone apps to enhance human health: Adoption of behavior change techniques 2018 248 There has been a substantial increase in the number of health-related smartphone applications (apps) available to consumers in recent years. How does one decide which apps have scientific evidence backing their claims and which are “fake news”? In th...
Using visual stimuli to enhance gait control 2017 1921 Gait control challenges commonly coincide with vestibular dysfunction and there is a long history in using balance and gait activities to enhance functional mobility in this population. While much has been learned using traditional rehabilitation exe...
Validity and reliability of smartphone orientation measurement to quantify dynamic balance function 2018 1505 Objective: Postural control is frequently compromised after sub-concussive and concussive head trauma, and balance testing is an integral part of neuromotor assessment and management. The main objective of this paper is to develop a novel smartphone-...
Virtual reality-based assessment and rehabilitation of functional mobility 2013 258 The advent of virtual reality (VR) as a tool for real-world training dates back to the mid-twentieth century and the early years of driving and flight simulators. These simulation environments, while far below the quality of today’s visual displays, ...
Visual exteroceptive information provided during obstacle crossing did not modify the lower limb trajectory 2007 2712 The roles of visual exteroception (information regarding environmental characteristics) and exproprioception (the relation of body segments to the environment) during gait adaptation are not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to determin...