March 2024

Katie Blomgren has accepted an offer of admission from the Clinical Mental Health Counseling (MS) program at Prescott University.


February 2024

At the Pan American Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Congress in Cartagena, Colombia we presented a poster: Importance of informal care partner participation in interventions for people living with Parkinson’s disease


October 2023

In collaboration with The Poise Project, a talk 'Partnering with Poise': Retention of Benefits 12 months after an Alexander technique online group course for care partners of people living with dementia was given at Alzheimer Europe in Helsinki, Finland.


July 2023

At the World Parkinson Congress in Barcelona, Spain we presented a poster: ‘Partnering with Poise’: Retention of cognitive, emotional, and physical benefits for care partners of people living with Parkinson's disease at 6 and 12 months after completion of an in-person Alexander-based group course.


Spring 2023

Riley Hayes won the Mohan award for undergraduate research and has been accepted to the MSW program at Boise State University.

Caden Benzinger has been accepted to the Addictions Counseling program at Boise State University.

Dr. Molly Johnson & Dr. Cohen published a paper called "Altered coordination strategies during upright stance and gait in teachers of the Alexander Technique."


February 2023

Dr. Jason Baer & Dr. Cohen published a paper based on Jason's dissertation research: Does neck flexion improve performance? Effects on reaction time depend on whether responses are expected


January 2023

Riley Hayes and Emma Griewe won an undergraduate research award for our project on the relation between postural tone and proprioception.


December 2022

We published a paper on the effects of postural instructions on balance in young adults in Gait & Posture.


November 2022

At the American Congress for Rehabilitation Medicine Conference in Chicago, we presented a poster: Poised for Parkinson's: Retention of benefits 6-7 months after Alexander technique synchronous online group course.


October 2022

Dr. Cohen's 2020 paper was featured in a video on the Alexander Technique.


July 2022

At the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in San Diego, we presented a poster: ‘Partnering with Poise’: Alexander technique online group classes are a promising interventon to decrease loss-of-self and increase agency for care partners of people living with dementia.


May 2022

Jason Baer gave a talk at the Northwest Biomechanics Symposium.

At the 4th Pan American Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Congress in Miami, Celeste Condie presented a poster: Poised for Parkinson’s: Adapting an in-person cognitive embodiment course to online delivery for people living with Parkinson's disease and their care partners.


March 2022

Jared Grieb won the Phil Mohan Award for Undergraduate Research.


January 2022

Jason Baer published a paper on the effect of posture biofeedback on cognitive load in Psychological Research as part of his dissertation.


June 2021

Dr. Cohen's work was featured on Medium.

Jacquelyn Holton was accepted into the Forensic Psych (MS) program at Arizona State University.


May 2021

Our paper comparing the effects of Alexander technique and exercise for neck pain was published in Applied Sciences.


March 2021

Caden Benzinger won the Phil Mohan Award for Undergraduate Research.


November 2020

Our colleague from the Alexander Technique science team, Andrew McCann has created a summary of our Alexander Technique theory paper.


October 2020

We presented multiple posters, one at the NIH Rehab Conference about Embodied Agency: Alexander Technique-based Group Interventions for People living with Pakinsons and their Care Partners, and two at the ACRM Conference about Poised for Parkinson's: Online Group Delivery of Alexander Classes for People Living with Parkinsons Disease/CarePartner Dyads and the other about retention data called Poised for Parkinson's: Retention of Benefits from Alexander Technique Group Course for People Living with Parkinson's Disease.


September 2020

We received a grant from the Mountain West Research Consortium to fund our research project developing an online Alexander Technique course for people with Parkinson's disease.


August 2020

Our paper, Potential Mechanisms of the Alexander Technique: Toward a Comprehensive Neurophysiological Model has been accepted for publication in Kinesiology Review.


May 2020

Dr. Cohen participated in a video symposium called: Current Scientific Research and Models for the Alexander Technique.


April 2020

Malori Basye won the Phil Mohan Award for Academic Excellence and was accepted to law school at the University of Idaho.


March 2020

Our colleague from the Alexander Technique science team, Andrew McCann has created a summary of our Lighten Up paper.


January 2020

Our paper, Lighten up! Postural intructions affect static and dynamic balance in healthy older adults has been accepted for publication in Innovations in Aging.


November 2019

We presented a poster at American Congress for Rehabilitation Medicine, Chicago - Poised for Parkinson's: Alexander Technique course improves balance, mobility and posture for people with PD.


October 2019

Dr. Cohen presented a poster at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.


June 2019

We presented a poster on Alexander Technique for care partners at the World Parkinson Congress in Kyoto.


April 2019

Malori Basye was awarded the Children of IDACORP scholarship.


March 2019

Teresa Moote was awarded the William Reese Award for Research Excellence.


February 2019

Skylar Soelberg has accepted an offer of admission from the counseling psychology program at Idaho State University.


January 2019

Jason Baer published a paper on inhibition and preparation for stepping.


December 2018

Jordan Becker published a paper on Alexander technique for neck pain in Human Movement Science.


November 2018

Jason Baer presented a poster on Posture v. Performance in a Dual-Task Paradigm at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego.


October 2018

Ramyaa Ravichandra and Teresa Moote presented a poster on the Alexander Technique for care partners at the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine in Dallas.

Jordan Becker presented a poster on Alexander Technique vs. exercise for neck pain at the American Congress of Rehabilition Medicine Conference in Dallas.

Tara McIsaac presented a poster on multi-limb dual-task cost in Parkinson's disease at the Movement Disorders Society meeting in Hong Kong.


August 2018

Dr. Cohen gave a plenary talk at the 11th International Alexander Technique Congress: "Science Catches Up: Alexander Technique Principles and 21st Century Research."


June 2018

Our collaboration with The Poise Project has resulted in a grant from the Parkinsosn's Foundation to study the benefits of Alexander Technique group classes for people living with Parkinson's Disease in North Carolina. Other grants from the Alzheimer's Association for care partners were included along with a visonary award for Monika Gross.


May 2018

Jordan Becker was featured as an outstanding graduate in the college news.


April 2018

Dr. Cohen was awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor, effective July 1.

We acquired a grant to purchase electroencephalography (EEG) equipment for the lab.

Dan Kral was runner up at UI's 3-minute-thesis competition. (Scroll to 44:30 to see Dan present.)

Addison Johnson has accepted an offer of admission to the Genetic Counseling program at the University of Texas Health and Science Center in Houston. UT Health is the largest medical center in the world and houses MD Anderson Cancer Center, the number one cancer treatment and research hospital in the U.S.


March 2018

Wilson Trusty has accepted an offer of admission from the clinical psychology program at Idaho State University.

Wilson Trusty was awarded the Phil Mohan Award for Academic Excellence.

Jordan Becker was awarded the William Reese Award for Research Excellence.

Teresa Moote was accepted to the 2018 Summer Workshop in Cognitive and Brain Sciences at the University of Delaware.


January 2018

We recieved a supplemental grant for our Alexander Technique project from the American Society for Alexander Technique.


December 2017

Jordan Becker has been accepted to a competitive NIH post-bac training program.

Our Alexander Technique project was awarded its second grant from the Parkinson's Foundation for 2 classes in Washington, D.C.


November 2017

Our collaborator, Tara McIsaac, was awarded an NIH grant for her project on upper and lower limb coupling during driving in Parkinson's disease (on which Dr. Cohen is a consultant).

Dr. Cohen and Dr. Shawn Copeland (our collaborator in the Lionel Hamptom School of Music) Presented at College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences Research Mixer.


October 2017

Jordan Becker and Dr. Cohen presented a talk entitled, "Feasibility and efficacy of group Alexander technique lessons on neck pain in office workers" at the Northwest Occupational Health Conference.


September 2017

Our collaboration with the Poise Project has resulted in a grant from the National Parkinson's Foundation to study the effects of Alexander Technique group classes on stress in care partners of people with Parkinson's disease.

Dr. Cohen gave an oral presentation entitled, "Lighten Up! A mindfulness-based approach to posture and movement in Parkinson's disease" at the 3rd annual meeting of the Inland Northwest Movement Disorder Society.

Dr. Cohen gave an invited talk entitled "Connections between cognition and posture in aging, Parkinson's disease, and neck pain" for the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Idaho and was awarded affiliate status in that department.

Dr.Cohen presented a workshop: "Cognition, Posture, and Balance: current research and tips" to a Parkinson's disease support group, Good Samaritan Village, Moscow, ID.


August 2017

Jason Baer presented a poster, Posture vs. performance in a dual task paradigm at the International Conference for Cognitive Neuroscience.


July 2017

Jordan Becker presented a poster, Alexander technique classes reduce neck pain and alter muscle activation at the Idaho Conference on Undergraduate Research.


June 2017

Our Alexander Technique project was awarded its first grant from the Parkinson's Foundation for 8 Alexander technique classes in sites across North Carolina.


February 2017

Recovery from multiple APAs delays gait initiation in Parkinson's disease has been published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.


January 2017

An fMRI-compatible force measurement system for the evaluation of the neural correlates of step initiation was accepted for publication by Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group)

One of our recent papers was noted for receiving among the top 5% of views in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience in the last quarter of 2016.


December 2016

The clinical significance of freezing while turning in Parkinson's disease has been published in Neuroscience.

Tyler Farmer (lab alumnus) has been accepted to Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and will be starting there this fall.


November 2016

Mobility and Upright Posture Are Associated with Different Aspects of Cognition in Older Adults has been published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.

Jordan Becker was awarded a research grant from the University of Idaho Office of Undergraduate Research for a study of the effects of group lessons in the Alexander Technique on neck pain.


September 2016

Dan Kral presented a poster at the World Parkinson Congress in Portland: Thinking in action: Alexander technique for Parkinson's disease.

Dr. Cohen presented at a pre-conference Round Table at the World Parkinson Congress in Portland: "Beyond exercise: Effects of postural instruction on balance and mobility."


June 2016

Cognitive Contributions to Freezing of Gait in Parkinson Disease: Implications for Physical Rehabilitation has been published in Physical Therapy.

Dr. Cohen presented a talk and poster entitled Lighten Up: Modifying postural state to reduce fall risk in older adults at the Mountain West Research Consortium's Clinical and Translational Research Infrastructure Network conference.

Drs. Cohen & Cacciatore co-presented two talks at the annual conference and general meeting of the American Society for Alexander Technique in Minneapolis: "From Biomechanics to Brains: A Survey of Research Relevant to the Alexander Technique" and "Emerging Mechanisms of the Alexander Technique."


May 2016

Jason Baer completed his MS in Human Factors and is continuing on for his PhD in Neuroscience.

Abigail Villeneuve has been accepted to a counseling MA program at Montana State University.

We recieved a Key Fund award from our college to study the effects of postural instruction on muscle activation.


April 2016

Kennedy Woods presented a poster, "Measurement of Postural Control Associated with Fall Risk" at the University of Idaho Undergraduate Research Symposium.


March 2016

Jason Baer has been awarded the 2016 William G. Reese Award for Outstanding Student Research in Psychology

Addison Johnson has been awarded the 2016 Phil Mohan Award for Academic Excellence.


February 2016

Isabella Orr was accepted into the Physician Assistant Program at Idaho State University.


January 2016

Dr. Cohen was interviewed by the Lewiston Tribune for an article on cognitive aging: Use it or Lose it.


December 2015

Kennedy Woods was awarded a research grant from the University of Idaho Office of Undergraduate Research.


October 2015

Jason Baer presented a poster, "Cognitive factors influence postural alignment," at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago.

Dr. Cohen presented a talk, "Lighten Up! Mindfulness-based approach to postural control improves coordination and reduces fall risk in older adults with and without Parkinson's disease," at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago.


September 2015

Cognitive contributions to freezing of gait in Parkinson disease - Implications for physical rehabilitation was published in Physical Therapy Journal.


June 2015

We were awarded a one-year grant from the Mountain West Research Consortium CTR-IN: Modifying postural state to reduce fall risk in older adults.

Dr. Cohen presented a talk on the scientific foundations of the Alexander Technique at the annual meeting of the American Society for Alexander Technique in Boston.


March 2015

We were awarded a Summer Research Grant from the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences to further develop our Lighten Up protocol.

Isabella Orr was awarded the 2014-2015 William Reese Award for Outstanding Student Research. Each year, one undergraduate in the Department of Psychology is chosen to receive the award, based on superior academic performance and involvement in psychological research.

Dr. Cohen presented a workshop at the UI Women's Leadership Conference: "Power & Poise - Inhabiting your body every day."


February 2015

Lighten up: Specific postural instructions affect axial rigidity and step initiation in patients With Parkinson's disease was published in Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. This paper was also featured by Andrew McCann's blog about the Alexander technique.

Dr. Cohen presented a lecture at the Parkinson's Power Summit, Spokane, WA: Balance, gait, and cognition in Parkinson's disease.


September 2014

Balance, gait, and cognition in Parkinson's disease: lecture at Parkinson's Power Summit - Spokane, WA.


June 2014

We presented a poster at the World Congress of the International Society for Posture and Gait Research, Vancouver, Canada: Forward Head Posture in Older Subjects is Associated with Executive Deficits.


April 2014

We have been awarded the Kurt Olsson Early Career Research Award for our preliminary work looking at the influence of different kinds of postural instruction on posture and gait.


March 2014

Ryan Seymore has been awarded the 2013-2014 Phil Mohan Award for Academic Excellence. Each year, one undergraduate in the Department of Psychology is chosen to receive the award, based on superior academic performance and involvement in psychological research. Ryan has been working in the Mind in Movement Lab since summer of 2013.

Justin Davich has accepted an offer of admission to Pacific Graduate School of Psychology at Palo Alto University.


January 2014

Dr. Cohen presented a lecture for the American Parkinson's Disease Association in Clarkston, WA: Balance in Parkinson's disease: what it is, what goes wrong, and what you can do about it.

Our abstract titled "Forward Head Posture in Older Subjects is Associated with Executive Deficits" has been accepted for presentation at the 2014 World Congress of the International Society for Posture and Gait Research, Vancouver, Canada.


November 2013

Dr. Cohen presented a lecture at Parkinson's Disease Resource Center, Spokane, WA: Balance control in Parkinson's disease.


May 2013

We hosted a table on balance control at "Senses and Reflexes" Family Science Saturday, Palouse Discovery Science Center, Pullman, WA.

We installed our camera system! Thanks to everyone who helped out. Click the image below to be taken to the Lab.


March 2013

We have been awarded a seed grant and a Key Fund award from the University of Idaho for our work on the role of time pressure in forward head posture.