Monica Daley
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Monica is a Lecturer in Locomotor Biomechanics. Monica’s research focuses on the interplay between locomotor mechanics and neural control, particularly in movement over rough or unpredictable terrain.
Biography
Monica graduated in 2000 with a BSc in Biology from the University of Utah. Monica went on to spend a year as a research technician in the lab of Associate Professor Franz Goller, investigating the motor control of singing in zebra finches. She completed an MA in 2003 at Harvard University, then undertook a PhD in the mechanics and neuromuscular control of running in birds with Andrew Biewener at the Concord Field Station of Harvard University (CFS Website).
After completing her PhD in 2006, she spent a little over a year as a postdoctoral researcher with Dan Ferris in the Human Neuromechanics Lab at the University of Michigan, as a National Science Foundation Fellow in Biological Informatics. She came to the RVC in January 2008.
Research
Monica’s research focuses on the interplay between locomotor mechanics and neural control, particularly in relation to how muscles function to allow agile and dynamically stable movement in rough or unpredictable terrain.
Monica uses an integrative research approach that combines perturbation experiments, direct in vivo measures of muscle performance and computer models involving dynamic simulations. Through this approach, Monica tests hypotheses about the neuromuscular and mechanical control mechanisms used by animals for agile and dynamically stable movement.
The basic biomechanical and physiological principles revealed through this research approach can improve our understanding of morphological evolution, locomotor performance and musculoskeletal injury, and could lead to better robotic and prosthetic designs.
For more information see Monica's Structure & Motion Lab page.
Selected Publications
DALEY, M. A., VOLOSHINA, A. & BIEWENER, A. A. (2009) The role of intrinsic muscle mechanics in the neuromuscular control of stable running in the guinea fowl. J Physiol 587, 2693-2707. PubMed ID 19359369
USHERWOOD, J. R., SZYMANEK, K. L. & DALEY, M. A. (2008) Compass gait mechanics account for top walking speeds in ducks and humans. J Exp Biol 211, 3744-3749. PubMed ID 19011215
DALEY, M. A. (2008) Biomechanics: running over uneven terrain is a no-brainer. Curr Biol 18, R1064-1066. PubMed ID 19036337
PELC, E. H., DALEY, M. A. & FERRIS, D. P. (2008) Resonant hopping of a robot controlled by an artificial neural oscillator. Bioinspiration and Biomimetics. 3, 26001. PubMed ID 18369282
FERRIS, D. P., SAWICKI, G. S. & DALEY, M. A. (2007) A physiologist's perspective on robotic exoskeletons for human locomotion. International Journal of Humanoid Robotics 4, 507-528. PubMed ID 18185840
DALEY, M. A., FELIX, G. & BIEWENER, A. A. (2007) Running stability is enhanced by a proximo-distal gradient in joint neuromechanical control. Journal of Experimental Biology 210, 383-394. PubMed ID 17234607
BIEWENER, A. A. & DALEY, M. A. (2007) Unsteady locomotion: integrating muscle function with whole body dynamics and neuromuscular control. Journal of Experimental Biology 210, 2949-2960. PubMed ID 17704070
DALEY, M. A., USHERWOOD, J. R., FELIX, G. & BIEWENER, A. A. (2006) Running over rough terrain: guinea fowl maintain dynamic stability despite a large unexpected change in substrate height. Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 171-187. PubMed ID 16354788
DALEY, M. A. & BIEWENER, A. A. (2006) Running over rough terrain reveals limb control for intrinsic stability. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103, 15681-15686. PubMed ID 17032779
DALEY, M. A. & BIEWENER, A. A. (2003) Muscle force-length dynamics during level versus incline locomotion: a comparison of in vivo performance of two guinea fowl ankle extensors. Journal of Experimental Biology 206, 2941-2958.PubMed ID 12878663
GOLLER, F. & DALEY, M. A. (2001) Novel motor gestures for phonation during inspiration enhance the acoustic complexity of birdsong. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences 268, 2301-2305. PubMed ID 11703869