Sara Mannello

Faculty

Associate Professor

Email sara.mannello@unco.edu
Phone 970-351-1956
Location Gunter Hall
Address 501 20th St, Campus Box 39, Greeley, CO 80639

Education

Post Doc, University of Minnesota, 2010
Area of Study: Neuroscience

PhD, Arizona State University, 2005
Area of Study: Motor Control

MS, Arizona State University, 2002
Area of Study: Motor Control

BA, University of Minnesota-Duluth, 1999
Area of Study: Psychology

Professional Experience & Affiliations

Associate Professor, University of Northern Colorado
Department of Kinesiology, Nutrition, and Dietetics (2021 – Present)

Assistant Professor, University of Northern Colorado
School of Sport and Exercise Science (2017-2021)

Assistant Professor, Louisiana State University
School of Kinesiology (2012-2017)

Research Associate, University of Minnesota
Department of Neuroscience (2010-2012)

Postdoctoral Associate, University of Minnesota
Department of Neuroscience (2005-2010)

Research Assistant, Arizona State University
Neural Control of Movement Lab (2002-2005)

Master’s Thesis Research, Arizona State University
Neural Control of Movement Lab (2000-2002)

Principal Investigator, University of Minnesota-Duluth (2 projects) Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (1998-1999)

 

Research Expertise & Interests

Examination of posture and neuromuscular control when Clarinetists play different types of Clarinets

The focus is on how choosing different instruments might be more developmentally appropriate and might play a role in injury prevention in musicians.

Neuromotor Control of the Hand during Smartphone Manipulation

Projects examining muscle patterns during texting tasks.
One paper near to submission, a second paper in progress concurrently.

Posture assessment and related muscle activity in Horn Players

The project includes a study on muscle activation patterns and body positioning during French Horn playing in different standing and sitting postures with and without a support device. The goal is to provide inform evidence-based best practices for injury prevention in French Horn players.

The influence of hand posture on muscle patterns during piano performance

Data collected and partial analysis completed. After collaborator left academia, assessing whether viable to continue toward publication.

Areas of Interest

Dr. Winges’ research interests are focused on the neuromuscular control of the hand. One of her specific interests is the plasticity within the neuromuscular control patterns of hand movements. Recent projects have focused on the control of skilled hand movements during piano and clarinet performance. She is interested in how these patterns differ between non-musicians, amateur, and expert musicians. Dr. Winges is also interested in the object manipulation during gait (i.e. texting and walking) and how our understanding of patterns of muscle activation and how they can be changed might be applied to rehabilitation strategies for hand dysfunction.

Publications

  • Song A, Kuznetsov NA, Winges SA, MacLellan MJ. (2020). Muscle synergy for upper limb damping behavior during object transport while walking in healthy young individuals. Experimental Brain Research, 238, 1203-1218.
  • Young KE, Winges SA (2017). Thumb-Rest Position and its Role in Neuromuscular Control of the Clarinet Task. Medical Problems of Performing Artists. 32(2):71-77.
  • Hondzinski JM, Soebbing CM, French AE, & Winges SA (2016). Different damping responses explain vertical endpoint error differences between visual conditions. Experimental Brain Research, 234(6):1575-87.
  • Winges SA (2015). Somatosensory feedback refines the perception of hand shape with respect to external constraints. Neuroscience. 293:1-11.
  • Winges SA Furuya S (2015). Distinct digit kinematics by professional and amateur pianists. Neuroscience 284, 643–652.
  • Winges SA, Furuya S, Faber NJ, and Flanders M (2013) Patterns of muscle activity for digital coarticulation. Journal of Neurophysiology, Jul; 110(1):230-42.
  • Winges SA and Soechting JF. (2011) Spatial and temporal aspects of cognitive influences on smooth pursuit. Experimental Brain Research, 211: 27-36.
  • Winges SA, Eonta SE, and Soechting JF. (2010) Does temporal asynchrony affect multimodal curvature detection? Experimental Brain Research, 203: 1-9.
  • Winges SA, Eonta SE, and Soechting JF, and Flanders M. (2009) Effects of object compliance on three-digit grasping. Journal of Neurophysiology, 101: 2447-2458.
  • Johnston JA, Winges SA, and Santello M (2009). Neural control of hand muscles during prehension. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, 629: 577-596.
  • Winges SA, Eonta SE, Soechting JF, and Flanders M. (2008) Multi-digit control of contact forces during rotation of a hand-held object. Journal of Neurophysiology 99: 1846 1856.
  • Winges SA, Kornatz KW, and Santello M. (2008) Common input to motor units of intrinsic and extrinsic hand muscles during two-digit object hold. Journal of Neurophysiology, 99: 1119-1126.
  • Winges SA, Soechting JF, and Flanders M. (2007) Multi-digit control of contact forces during transport of hand-held objects. Journal of Neurophysiology 98: 851-860.
  • Winges SA, Kundu B, Soechting JF, and Flanders M. (2007) Intrinsic Hand Muscle Activation for Grasp and Horizontal Transport, Eurohaptics 1:39-43.
  • Winges SA, Johnston JA, and Santello M. (2006) Muscle-pair specific distribution and grip-type modulation of neural common input to extrinsic digit flexors. Journal of Neurophysiology 96: 1258-1266.
  • Winges SA and Santello M. (2005) From single motor unit activity to multiple grip forces: Mini-review of multi-digit grasping. Integrative and Comparative Biology 45: 679-682.
  • Johnston JA, Winges SA, and Santello M. (2005) Periodic modulation of motor-unit activity in extrinsic hand muscles during multidigit grasping. Journal of Neurophysiology 94: 206-218.
  • Winges SA and Santello M. (2004) Common input to motor units of digit flexors during multi-digit grasping. Journal of Neurophysiology 92: 3210-3220.
  • Johnston JA, Winges SA, and Santello M. (2004) Neuromuscular determinants of force coordination during multidigit grasping. Conf. Proc. IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc., pp 4645-4648. San Francisco, CA, USA.
  • Winges SA, Weber D J, and Santello M. (2003) The role of vision on hand pre-shaping during reach to grasp. Experimental Brain Research 152: 489-98.
  • Austin Jr. E, Winges SA, Acharya PK, Bourdin B, Chacon P, Kearney C, Choi J-W. Motion Capture of Hand Movements Using an Array of Sensors on a Glove. Biomedical Engineering Society 2020 Annual Meeting, October 2020, Virtual.
  • Winges SA, Krawitz J, Buchholz KO, Nicols J. The influence of thumb posture on muscle patterns during piano performance. North American Society for Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, Vancouver, BC, Canada, June 2020, (moved to virtual due to Covid-19).
  • Acharya PK, van Gemmert AW, Winges SA. Walking and texting: Neuromuscular control during smartphone manipulation. Neuroscience 2019, Annual Meeting for the Society for Neuroscience, Chicago, IL, October 2019.
  • Winges SA, Song A, MacLellan MJ. Asymmetry in neuromuscular control for damping behavior during object transport in healthy young individuals. Neuroscience 2018, Annual Meeting for the Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, CA, November 2018.
  • Austin Jr. E, Winges SA, Kearney C, Chacon Dominguez P, Acharya PK, Choi J-W. Measuring Finger Forces in Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) with a Custom- Made Force Glove. 2018 Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, October 2018.
  • Winges SA, Acharya PK, Kuznetsov NA. Application of cross recurrence quantification analysis to characterize finger entrainment during rhythmic tapping. NASPSPA 2018, Annual Meeting for the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, Denver, CO, June 2018.
  • Song A, Winges SA, MacLellan MJ. Upper Limb Muscle Synergy for Damping Behavior During Object Transport in Healthy Young Individuals. NASPSPA 2018, Annual meeting for the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, Denver, CO, June 2018.
  • Winges SA, Young KE. Clarinetist’s choice: Should instrument selection be based on size? NASPSPA conference, San Diego, CA, USA: June 2017. Poster presentation.
  • Winges SA, Acharya PK. Effects of training on independent finger movements. 45th Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, CA, USA: November 2016. Poster presentation.
  • Acharya PK, Winges SA. Performance of a texting task is influenced more by content than whole body motion: Standing vs. walking during a texting task. NASPSPA conference, Montreal, QC, Canada June 2016. Poster presentation.
  • Winges SA, Young KE. Neuromuscular control in Clarinetists: does thumb-rest position matter? 44th Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Chicago IL, USA: October 2015. Poster presentation.
  • Acharya P, Amedee A, Amedee J, Winges SA. Texting on the go: Multi-muscle activation patterns during a dual-task performance. 44th Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Chicago IL, USA: October 2015. Poster presentation.
  • Winges SA, Hondzinski JM. Multi-muscle activation patterns for fine and gross pointing movements differ across visual conditions. NASPSPA conference, Portland, OR, USA June 2015. Oral presentation.
  • Hondzinski JM, Winges SA. Precision of fine and gross pointing movements differs across visual conditions. NASPSPA conference, Portland, OR, USA June 2015. Oral presentation.
  • Winges SA. Influence of musical training on neuromuscular coarticulation during sequential finger movements. 43rd Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Washington, D.C., USA: November 2014. Poster presentation
  • Hondzinski JM, Winges SA. Precision of fine and gross pointing movements differs across visual conditions. 43rd Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Washington, D.C., USA: November 2014. Poster presentation
  • Winges SA, Furuya S. Sequence-dependent hand kinematics by professional and amateur pianists. 42nd Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, CA, USA: November 2013. Poster presentation.
  • Winges SA, Furuya S, Flanders M. Hand muscle activation for digital articulation in pianists. 42nd Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, New Orleans, LA, USA: October 2012. Poster presentation.
  • Winges SA, Furuya S, Flanders M. Patterns of hand muscle activation in pianists: From amateur to expert. 22nd Annual Meeting of the Society for the Neural Control of Movement, Venice, Italy: April 2012. Poster presentation.
  • Winges SA, Pundi, K. Patterns of muscle activation for restricted hand postures. 41st Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Washington, D.C., USA: November 2011. Poster presentation.
  • Winges SA, Ames JC, and Soechting JF. Predicting abrupt changes in target direction during ocular pursuit. 40th Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, CA, USA: November 2010. Poster presentation.
  • Winges SA, Eonta SE, and Soechting JF. Multimodal curvature detection and temporal asynchrony. 39th Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Chicago, IL, USA: October 2009. Poster presentation.
  • Winges SA, Eonta SE, Flanders M, and Soechting JF. Effects of object compliance on three-digit grasping. 19th Annual Conference of the Society for the Neural Control of Movement, Waikoloa, Hawaii, USA: April 2009. Poster presentation.
  • Winges SA, Eonta SE, Flanders M, and Soechting JF. Effect of compliance on contact force and EMG patterns for a tripod grasp. 38th Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Washington, DC, USA: November 2008. Poster presentation.
  • Winges SA. Taking advantage of the compliant properties of the hand for object manipulation. On the Shoulders of a Giant: A tribute to the scientific contributions of John F. Soechting. Vienna, Austria: October 2008. Oral presentation.
  • Winges SA, Eonta SE, Flanders M, and Soechting JF. Contact force and EMG patterns for three-dimensional rotation of a hand-held object. 37th Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, CA, USA: November 2007. Poster presenter.
  • Winges SA, Kundu B, Soechting JF, and Flanders M. Intrinsic Hand Muscle Activation for Grasp and Horizontal Transport. Second Joint EuroHaptics Conference and Symposium on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environment and Teleoperator Systems (WHC’07), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, March 2007. Oral presentation.
  • Winges SA and Soechting JF. Control of grasping forces during object manipulation and transport. 36th Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Atlanta, GA, USA: October 2006. Poster presenter.
  • Winges SA, Kornatz KW, Santello M. Common input strength as a function of synergistic action of hand muscles during grasping. 35th Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Washington, DC, USA: November 2005. Poster presenter
  • Winges SA, Johnston JA, Santello M. Effect of grip type on strength of common input to extrinsic finger flexors. 34th Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, CA, USA: November 2004. Poster presenter.
  • Winges SA. Effect of grip type on strength of common input to extrinsic finger flexors. Exercise Science PhD seminar: September 2004. Oral presentation
  • Winges SA and Santello M. “Control of whole hand grasping: A role for motor unit synchronization?” Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology 2004 Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, USA: January 2004. Oral presentation.
  • Winges SA Maurer K and Santello M. “Motor unit synchrony and force coordination during 5-digit grasping”. 33rd Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, New Orleans, LA, USA: November 2003. Poster presenter.
  • Winges SA. Motor unit synchrony and force coordination during 5-digit grasping. 11th Conference of the International Graphonomics Society. Scottsdale, AZ, USA: November 2003. Oral presentation.
  • Winges SA. Coordination of Grip Forces and Motor Unit Synchronization. IGERT Research Symposium. Pittsburgh, PA: June 2003. Oral presentation.
  • Winges SA. Motor Unit Synchronization in 5-Digit Grasping. 1st Annual Meeting of the Statewide Training Program in Movement Neuroscience. Tempe, AZ: March 2003. Oral presentation.
  • Winges SA. Motor Unit Synchronization in 5-Digit Grasping. IGERT Research Day. Tempe, AZ: March 2003. Poster Presentation.
  • Winges SA., Weber DJ, Santello M. (2001). The role of vision in the gradual molding of the hand to object contours. 31st Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, CA, USA: November 2001. Poster presentation.

Grants and Sponsored Research

  • CHSE Dean’s Auxiliary Faculty Research & Travel Grant Program, Louisiana State University ($1239; May 2017)
  • ORED Faculty Travel Grant, Louisiana State University ($750; August 2016)
  • ORED Faculty Travel Grant, Louisiana State University ($750; August 2015)
  • CHSE Dean’s Auxiliary Faculty Research & Travel Grant Program, Louisiana State University ($359 May 2015)
  • Teaching Enhancement Fund, Louisiana State University ($500; March 2015)
  • Council on Research, Faculty Research Grant 2014-2015, Louisiana State University
    ($10,000)
  • ORED Summer Stipend 2014, Louisiana State University ($5,000; July 2014)
  • ORED Faculty Travel Grant, Louisiana State University ($750; August 2014)
  • ORED Junior Faculty Travel Grant, Louisiana State University ($500; August 2013)
  • ORED Junior Faculty Travel Grant, Louisiana State University ($500; September 2012)
  • Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Fellowship, National Science Foundation, “Neural and Musculoskeletal Adaptations in Form and Function”
  • ASASU Conference Travel Grant Travel to the 31st Annual Meeting for the Society of Neuroscience
  • University of Minnesota Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program grant “Effect of Bilateral Transfer on EMG Magnitude during Motor Movement” Principal Investigator. (Funded)
  • University of Minnesota Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program grant “Effects of Aromatherapy on Physiological States”. Principal Investigator. (Funded)