Education

• Post-Doctoral Scholar, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,
  Cornell University, 2008
• Ph.D., Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, 2005
• M.S., Kinesiology, University of Michigan, 1998
• B.S., Kinesiology, University of Michigan, 1990

Interests & Expertise

Dr. Keenan’s work is dedicated to understanding the interplay between motor function, physical activity, and health. Experimental procedures used in the laboratory include high-density surface EMG arrays (up to 256 EMG recordings), long-term (>6 hrs) EMG recordings, indwelling EMG recordings, force sensors, motion capture, and computational modeling. Current collaborative projects being pursued in the lab include: the role of physical activity on motor function in older adults; assessment of muscle coordination during finger pressing tasks in young and older adults; the role of EMG biofeedback to improve chronic neck pain; the change in neuromuscular control in stroke survivors, and the noninvasive assessment of neuromuscular properties using high-density EMG arrays.

Recent Publications

Keenan, K.G., Collins, J.D., Massey, W.V., Walters, T., & Gruzska, H. (2011). Coherence between surface EMGs is influenced by electrode placement in hand muscles. J Neurosci Methods, 195, 10-14.

Laughlin, W.A., Weinhandl, J.T., Kernozek, T.W., Cobb, S.C., Keenan, K.G., & O’Connor, K.M. (2011). The effects of single-leg landing technique on ACL loading. J Biomech, 44, 1845-51.

Keenan, K.G. (2009). Computational modeling as support for the interpolated twitch technique. J Appl Physiol, 107, 364-5.

Keenan, K.G., Santos, V.J., Venkadesan, M., & Valero-Cuevas, F.J. (2009). Maximal voluntary force production is not limited by voluntary movement speed in combined motion and force tasks. J Neurosci, 29(27), 8784–8789.

Keenan, K.G., & Valero-Cuevas, F.J. (2008). Epoch length to accurately estimate the amplitude of interference EMG is likely the result of unavoidable amplitude cancellation. Biomed Signal Process Control, 3, 154-162.

Shinohara, M., Keenan, K.G., & Enoka, R.M. (2008). Fluctuations in motor output of a hand muscle can be altered by the mechanical properties of the position sensor. J Neurosci Methods, 2(168), 164-73.

Keenan, K.G., & Valero-Cuevas, F.J. (2007). Experimentally valid predictions of muscle force and EMG in models of motor unit function are most sensitive to neural properties. J Neurophysiol, 98, 1581-1590.

Keenan, K.G., Farina, D., Meyer, F., Merletti, R., & Enoka, R.M. (2007). Sensitivity of the cross-correlation between simulated surface EMGs for two muscles to detect motor unit synchronization. J Appl Physiol 102(3), 1193-201.

Keenan, K.G., Farina, D., Merletti, R., & Enoka, R.M. (2006). Amplitude cancellation reduces the size of motor unit potentials averaged from the surface EMG. J Appl Physiol, 100, 1928-1937.

Keenan, K.G., Farina, D., Merletti, R., & Enoka, R.M. (2006). Influence of motor unit properties on the size of the simulated evoked surface EMG potential. Exp Brain Res, 169, 37-49.

Shinohara, M., Keenan, K.G., & Enoka, R.M. (2005). Fluctuations in motor output during steady contractions are weakly related across contraction types and between hands. Muscle Nerve, 31, 741-750.

Keenan, K.G., Farina, D., Maluf, K.S., Merletti, R., & Enoka, R.M. (2005). Influence of amplitude cancellation on the simulated surface electromyogram. J Appl Physiol, 98, 120-131.

Shinohara, M., Keenan, K.G., & Enoka, R.M. (2003). Contralateral activity in a homologous hand muscle during voluntary contractions is greater in old adults. J Appl Physiol, 94, 966-974.