What are the opening hours?

Monday 8am - 5pm Tuesday 8am - 5pm Wednesday 8am - 4pm Thursday 8am - 5pm Friday 8am - 5pm

Exercise Neuroscience Research Laboratory

Home
United States
Chicago, IL
Exercise Neuroscience Research Laboratory

Our mission is to advance research in neurological conditions to support those that are affected.

Dedicated to the study of exercise and its life changing benefits in persons with multiple sclerosis!

02/20/2026

We are hosting a free, online event that will feature a discussion about exercising with multiple sclerosis from two perspectives!
To share her lived experience, Erin Stevenson is an MS warrior who leads children's yoga classes and is now training for the Ironman.
To share his research perspective, Robert Motl, PhD is a professor at UIC specializing in exercise for MS.

Join us on Wednesday, March 11 at 12 PM CDT! This will be a great conversation that you don't want to miss. See Zoom meeting information below.

02/18/2026

Can one acute bout of exercise reduce anxiety and improve mood in people with multiple sclerosis and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)?

Previous research on the effects of exercise training on anxiety symptoms in MS is scarce and has not focused on people who experience symptoms indicative of GAD. A study led by Petra Šilić and Dr. Robert Motl demonstrated significant immediate and sustained reductions in state anxiety following an acute bout of moderate-intensity treadmill walking. This reveals exercise training as a potential avenue for managing anxiety in people with MS who have GAD.

Read more in Anxiety, Stress, & Coping: https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2026.2625841

02/10/2026

Do you have multiple sclerosis and a history of depressive symptoms? This clinical trial is seeking volunteers to participate in a remote exercise program. For more information or to sign up, email METSforMS@uic.edu or click this link: https://uic.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7ZGA5C1MXWl8bDo

02/02/2026

Real-world walking assessments have been established as valid and reliable measures of walking performance among persons with multiple sclerosis. However, how well do these assessment outcomes represent the lived walking experience with MS?

Qualitative literature has sought to capture these experiences, and this systematic review synthesizes the evidence to generate a set of themes that describe how walking with MS impacts activity participation in homes and communities.

The results point to the need for policy and infrastructure changes, educational models, and interventions that holistically support the physical and social needs of persons with MS.

"This study reinforces the understanding of walking with MS and dynamic and multifaceted, shaped by physical, societal, emotional and relationship factors, and challenges researchers and clinicians to consider these elements when assessing and promoting community walking in persons with MS."

Read more in Disability and Rehabilitation: https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2025.2606104
Emily J. Wood, Brook Galna, Georgios Mavropalias, Priyankara Manoj Rajakaruna & Yvonne C. Learmonth

01/26/2026

Past research in the general population has noted a decline in exercise-induced effects after ending exercise. Could exercise booster sessions help preserve these effects in persons with multiple sclerosis?

This study aimed to investigate how exercise booster sessions may affect aerobic capacity, muscle strength, and physical function over a 40-week follow-up period.

Read more in Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2025.12.013

01/23/2026

Many performance-based measures have been utilized in multiple sclerosis research to determine walking ability, such as the timed 25-foot walk, 6-minute walk, and timed Up and Go. However, these assessments do not capture the patient's perception of their own mobility.

Researchers sought to examine the construct validity of scores from the 12-item multiple sclerosis walking scale (MSWS-12). These results support the application of this assessment in clinical research and practice for young, middle-aged, and older adults with multiple sclerosis.

Read more in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2025.09.023

Robert Motl, Petra Šilić, Trinh L.T. Huynh, Brenda Jeng

01/20/2026

Looking for a fun way to engage with other MS warriors or caregivers in Chicago? Register now for the 3rd Annual MS-ing Around Comedy Show Fundraiser! This event is free to all those living with MS. Proceeds benefit MS-ing Around, a nonprofit whose mission is to help find the joy and ease in living with an autoimmune disease.

Purchase tickets and see more information: https://www.msingaround.org/event-details/3rd-annual-ms-ing-around-comedy-show-fundraiser

01/16/2026

A recent scoping review mapped menopause-related considerations in women with multiple sclerosis. This review highlights how variability in defining and analytically handling menopause and chronological age may contribute to inconsistent findings across MS literature, particularly in relation to disability and symptom trajectories. Importantly, the work also underscores the critical gap in the literature: the limited inclusion of qualitative perspectives capturing lived experiences of menopause among women with MS.

Researchers emphasize the need for more precise, longitudinal, and biologically anchored approaches to studying menopause as a potential inflection point in MS-related outcomes.

Read more in Maturitas: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2026.108826

Dawn Morgan, Victoria Aviado Flores, Stephanie Buxhoeveden, Robert Motl, Natalie Brounsuzian, Alexandra Christina Simpson, Jennifer Hill, Yolanda Hardy, Cristina Almeida Flores Román

01/15/2026

Check out this flyer for a current research study at the University of Illinois Chicago, and feel free to share the post!

01/12/2026

Older adults with multiple sclerosis often face mobility impairment associated with both MS progression and aging. Changes in grey matter have been studied in persons with MS and in older adults. How do patterns of grey matter atrophy compare between older adults with and without MS? Researchers constructed structural covariance networks to better understand the brain regions in which grey matter volume and walking ability were associated.

Read more in Journal of Neurology: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-025-13373-w

Mark E. Wagshul, Siddharth Nayak, Frederick W. Foley, Robert W. Motl, Manuel E. Hernandez, Meltem Izzetoglu & Roee Holtzer

01/05/2026

Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago invite you to participate in a voluntary research study of adults with and without multiple sclerosis. This focus of this study is to examine how vascular health may be related to how efficiently persons with and without MS walk. For more information, email ENRL@uic.edu or call (312) 355-0383.

12/23/2025

The Broadway musical "A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical" is helping people with Parkinson's disease in Chicago. The inspiration for this musical, Neil Diamond, was diagnosed with PD in 2018. Patients with PD at Rush University Medical Center received dance lessons from one of the musical's dance captains J'Kobe Wallace.

Read more: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/20/parkinsons-neil-diamond-musical/

Address

1919 W Taylor Street, AHSB 545
Chicago, IL
60612

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 5pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Wednesday	8am - 4pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 5pm

Telephone

+13124134967

Website

https://enrl.ahs.uic.edu/, https://linktr.ee/enrluic

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Exercise Neuroscience Research Laboratory posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Want your practice to be the top-listed Clinic in Chicago?