Yves Lajoie

Yves Lajoie is a full professor in the School of Human Kinetics. He received a PhD in motor control and learning from Université Laval in 1994. In 1995, he completed a one-year postdoctoral fellowship in physiotherapy at McGill University’s Centre for Research in Neuroscience. In 1995, he joined Laurentian University as an assistant professor. In 2001, he joined the University of Ottawa.

Dr. Lajoie’s research is in the area of motor control, cognitive involvement, static and dynamic equilibrium, and aging. He is a member of the Society for Neuroscience and the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity.

Professor Lajoie is accepting new students for thesis supervision.

• ResearchGate
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• Motor control, Psychomotricity

Ongoing research

My research currently deals with postural and attention control. The literature shows that when we pay less attention to controlling our actions, they often improve. We have shown that posture also benefits from this attentional strategy, among young adults and even seniors. At this time, we are trying to see if we can extrapolate these results to other population groups (normal or pathological).

• Michaud, L., Lafleur, D., Lajoie, Y. (2021). Effect of center of mass immobilization on center of pressure displacement in single and dual task. Journal of Motor Behavior. DOI:10.1080/00222895.2021.1896468.
• Salzman, T., Vallejo , DT, Polskaia, N., Michaud, L., St-Amant, G., Lajoie, Y., Fraser, S.A. (2021). Hemodynamic and behavioral changes in older adults during cognitively demanding dual tasks. Brain and Behavior. DOI:10.1002/brb3.2021
•  Grostern, J., Lajoie, Y., Paquet, N. (2021). The Fukuda stepping test is influenced by a concurrent cognitive task and step height in healthy young adults: A descriptive study. Physiotherapy Canada. DOI:10.3138/ptc-2020-0013.
• Ly, K., Michaud, L., Lajoie, Y. (2021). The effects of kinesiology tape on static postural control in individuals with functional ankle instability. Physical Therapy in Sports. DOI:10.1016/j.ptsp.2021.01.003.
• Michaud, L., Richer, N., Lajoie, Y. (2020). Number of trials needed to assess postural control of young adults in single and dual-task. Journal of Motor Behavior. DOI: 10.1080/00222895.2020.1723479.
• Polskaia, N., St-Amant, G., Fraser, S., Lajoie, Y. (2020). A functional near-infrarred spectroscopy (fNIRS) examination of how self-initiated sequential movements become automatic. Experimental Brain Research. DOI: 10.1007/s00221-020-05742-w.
• St-Amant, G., Rahman, T., Polskaia, N., Fraser, S., Lajoie, Y. (2020). Unveilling the cerebral and sensory contributions to automatic postural control during dual-task standing. Human Movement Science. DOI: 10:1016/j.humov.2020.102587.
• Jehu, D., Saunders, D., Richer, N., Lajoie, Y. (2019). The influence of carrying an anterior load on attention demand and obstacle clearance before, during, and after obstacle crossing. Experimental Brain Research. DOI: 10.1007/s00221-019-05673-1.
• Richer, N. & Lajoie, Y. (2019). Automaticity of postural control while dual-tasking revealed in young and older adults. Experimental Aging Research. DOI: 10.1080/0361073x.2019.1693044.
• Chan, A., Robertson, G.E., Lajoie, Y. (2019). Effetcs of attentional focus and dual-tasking on conventional deadlift performance in experienced lifters. International Journal of Kinesiology and Sports Sciences. DOI: 10.7575/aiac.ijkss.v.7n.4p.9.
• Richer, N., Ly, K., Fortier, N., & Lajoie, Y. (2019). Absence of ankle stiffening while standing in focus and cognitive task conditions in older adults. Journal of Motor Behavior, DOI: 10.1080/00222895.2019.1599808.
• Boyas, S., Medd, E.R., Beaulier, S., Boileau, A., Lajoie, Y., Bilodeau, M.  (2019). Older and young adults adopt different postural strategies during quiet bipedal stance after ankle plantarflexor fatigue. Neuroscience Letter. DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2019.02.044.
• Richer, N., Bisson, E.J., Bilodeau, M., Paquet, N., & Lajoie, Y. (2019). Effect of bilateral and unilateral plantarflexor muscle fatigue on blind navigation precision and gait parameters. Journal of Motor Behavior, DOI : 10.1080/00222895.2019.1576157.
• Richer, N. & Lajoie, Y. (2018). Cognitive task modality influences postural control in healthy older adults. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research. DOI: 10.1007/s40520-018-1068-9.
• Richer, N., Polskaia, N., Raymond, B., Desjardins, B., & Lajoie, Y. (2018). Reaction time of healthy older adults is reduced while walking fast. Journal of Motor Behavior. DOI: 10.1080/00222895.2018.1538097.
• Jehu, D.A. Paquet, N., Lajoie, Y.  (2018). Balance and mobility training with or without simultaneous cognitive training reduces attentional demands but does not improve obstacle clearance in older adults. Motor Control. DOI: 10.1123/mc.2017-0024.
• Piekarski, S., Lajoie, Y., Paquet, N. (2018) Effect of Transient Perturbations of Short-Term Memory on Target-Directed Blind Locomotion. Journal of Motor Behavior. DOI: 10.1080/00222895.2016.1271301.

See ResearchGate for a complete list.

• Saunders, D., Richer, N., Jehu, D.A., Paquet, N., Lajoie, Y. The influence of an anterior load on attention demand and obstacle clearance before, during, and after an obstacle crossing. North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity Conference Abstract, NASPSPA 2015 Portland, OR, USA. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology.
• Jehu, DA., Thibault, J., Lajoie, Y.  Magnifying the scale of visual biofeedback improves posture. Poster (#702.12) presented at the annual Society for Neuroscience, Chicago, IL, USA. October, 2015 at the McCormick Place.
• Jehu, DA., Paquet, N., & Lajoie, Y.  How does the number of steps influence involuntary linear and angular displacements when stepping on the spot without vision in old adults? Poster presented at the annual Canadian Psychological Association Convention, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.  June, 2015 at the Westin.
• Richer, N., Polskaia, N., Athanathious, A., Saunders, D. & Lajoie, Y. Effect of attentional focus on stability and muscular activation of the leg while standing. Neuroscience, Chicago, IL, October 2015. Nanosymposium oral presentation.
• Polskaia, N., Richer, N., Thibeault, J., Labelle, I. & Lajoie, Y. Cognitive tasks of increasing load improve stability in challenging postural tasks. North American Society for Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity Conference, Portland, Oregon, June 2015.
• Saunders, D., Richer, N., Jehu, D., Paquet, N. & Lajoie, Y. The influence of an anterior load on attention demand and obstacle clearance before, during, and after an obstacle crossing. North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, Portland, Oregon, June 2015. 
• Richer, N., Labelle, I., Polskaia, N. & Lajoie, Y. Effect of cognitive tasks of varying difficulty on postural control. Canadian Psychological Association Convention, Ottawa, ON, June 2015.
• Polskaia, N., Dionne, E., & Lajoie, Y. The influence of visual cognitive tasks of varying difficulty on quiet standing. Oral presented at the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology (SCAPPS 2014) Conference, London, ON.
• Polskaia, N., Dionne, E., Richer, N., & Lajoie, Y. The effect of attentional focus on postural control during quiet standing. Poster presented at the International Society for Posture and Gait Research (ISPGR 2014), Vancouver, BC.
• Richer, N., Polskaia, N., & Lajoie, Y. Cognitive task performed during upright standing improves postural control in older adults. Poster presented at the International Society for Posture and Gait Research (ISPGR 2014) Conference. Vancouver, BC.