Connecting the Dots Between Movement, Sleep, and Brain Development
Marie Fandy ’26
Kinesiology
Commonwealth Honors College
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts
Kinesiology major Marie Fandy studies how movement, sleep, and other daily behaviors shape healthy brain development in preschool-aged children. She has contributed to several projects in the UMass Moove and Snooze Lab, examining links between daily movement behaviors and early cognitive outcomes. Her honors thesis assesses the feasibility of using child-friendly electroencephalogram systems during cognitive tasks to advance this research, as well as examines whether a short period of physical activity leads to measurable changes in attention or information processing. Fandy presented her research at the 2024 American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting and at the Massachusetts Undergraduate Research Conference. She is a co-author on a peer-reviewed manuscript currently under journal review.
What inspires you to do this work?
My research combines several things I am passionate about, including neuroscience, human movement, and working with children! I’m interested in understanding how to preserve or increase brain health and function, as well as the impacts of physical activity on cognition.
In my opinion, the point of learning, discovering, and researching is to help better the lives of everyone!
How has research enhanced your education at UMass?
Research has provided an applied perspective to my education here at UMass by relating content learned in classes to the real world and understanding its significance at a population level. This applies to all of my classes, but especially the kinesiology classes. I’m passionate about bridging the gap between academia and the public. In my opinion, the point of learning, discovering, and researching is to help better the lives of everyone!
How does your faculty mentor support your work?
Working in the Moove and Snooze Lab under Assistant Professor of Kinesiology Christine St. Laurent has been an extremely impactful and rewarding experience. She has given me, as well as many other students, numerous opportunities to explore what we are passionate about within the context of the lab. Under her, I have gained so much insight regarding all the heavy lifting that goes on behind research. She fosters such an encouraging and supportive environment. Within my first semester of joining the lab, she helped me write an abstract and develop a poster that I presented. She stood alongside me every step of the way, and I certainly would not have had all of the opportunities to explore my curiosity within this realm of research without her.