Our Research

Parkinson’s Disease

A team of researchers led by ODU professor Steven Morrison, along with neurologists from Sentara Healthcare, is using fitness-tracking technology in socks as a way to track movement and detect early signs of trouble related to clinical disorders that impact walking.

Developed by Sensoria, the washable socks are wired with sensors that detect step numbers and gait patterns. A removable device attached to the sock can gather five to seven days' worth of information.

Falls are becoming increasingly common as the country's aging population continues to grow, especially for disorders like Parkinson's disease and diabetes. By using socks to track activity, doctors may better predict whether patients are utilizing medication properly, if at all. They can also monitor gait to check if patients are distributing weight efficiently or are at risk of falling.

Head Injury and Falls

In order to prevent slips and falls, a person must be able to respond quickly, appropriately, and accurately to an unexpected stimulus. However, with increasing age, a person's ability to react quickly (i.e. their reaction time) tends to decrease. The consequence of this is that the likelihood of suffering a fall increases as the individual can no longer catch themselves in time to prevent a fall. Head injuries are one of the major adverse consequences that can arise from suffering a fall.

There were nearly 2.8 million fall-related brain injuries in adults over 75 years of age with 10% of those injuries being fatal. An interdisciplinary group of clinical researchers is investigating the effect of increasing age and neurological disease on head and whole-body reaction times. Targeting physiological mechanisms, such as slowed reaction time, and matching them to an intervention may help to decrease the incidence of fall-related head injuries in seniors.

Wood, T.A., Morrison, S., and Sosnoff, J.J (2019). Can Sports Medicine Research on Concussion Provide Insight into Traumatic Brain Injuries in Older Adults? Frontiers in Medicine6, 53.

Morrison, S., Colberg S.R., Parson H.K., and Vinik A.I. (2014). Exercise improves gait, reaction time and postural stability in older adults with type 2 diabetes and neuropathy. Journal of Diabetes and Its Complications, 28: p. 715-722.

Exercise for Improving Balance in Diabetes

Older individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) are often at an increased risk of falling due to the combination of increasing age and the emergence of diabetes-related factors like diminished sensation (caused by neuropathy), declines in strength, cognitive function, and use of multiple prescription medications (polypharmacy). Our research team is interested in understanding which critical factors predict falls, how these factors are affected by everyday activities, and what interventions are most effective for reducing risk are lacking. We are particularly interested in what benefits different forms of exercise have on reducing fall risk for the population group. By determining the relative merits of different training protocols, we will gain insight as to most suitable fall prevention intervention for this population. Overall, our results will have wide application across medical and allied health areas for risk assessment and the development of appropriate interventions.

Morrison, S., and Newell, K.M (2019). Intra-individual variability of neuromotor function predicts falls risk in older adults and those with diabetes. Journal of Motor Behavior51(2), 151-160.

Morrison, S., Simmons, R., Colberg, S.R., Parson, H.K., and Vinik, A.I. (2018). Supervised Balance Training and Wii Fit-Based Exercises Lower Falls Risk in Older Adults with Type 2 Diabetes. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 19,(2) 185.e7-185.e13.

A.I. Vinik, E.J. Vinik, S.R. Colberg, and Morrison, S., (2015). Falls risk in older adults with type 2 diabetes. Editor: Strotmeyer, E.S. Clinics in Geriatric Medicine, 31, (1) 89-99.

Morrison, S, Colberg S.R., Mariano, M., Parson H.K., Vinik A.I., (2010). Balance Training Reduces Falls Risk in Older Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care, 33(4) 748-750.

Fatigue, Tiredness and Falls

For older adults, the likelihood of suffering a fall is a major risk that can have dramatic implications for overall health and well-being. This increased risk is tied, in part, to the general age-related decline in physiological processes integral to the control of balance and gait, with decrements in strength, sensation, and cognitive processing all being key factors. The consequence of the decline is that the older person is less able to respond to everyday challenges when performing many activities of daily living.

A general feeling of being fatigued or tired has also been linked to an increased likelihood of suffering a fall, as the person who is tired may be less able to respond appropriately and/or in a timely fashion to challenges when performing daily activities such as walking outside or climbing stairs. One of our current research interests is to better understand the implications of fatigue and tiredness on the balance and walking ability of older adults and persons with neurological disease.

Morrison, S., Colberg, S.R., Parson, H.K., Neumann, S., Handel, R., Vinik, E.J., Paulson, J., and Vinik, A.I. (2016). Walking-Induced Fatigue leads to Increased Falls Risk in Older Adults. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 17, 402-409

Contact Us

Need additional information about Monarch Balance for Life? Contact us via email or call at 757-683-6757.