7. Project Summary: RC-3 Physical impairments, sedentary lifestyle, and chronic conditions such as stroke, hip fracture, arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, and type 2 diabetes mellitus and its vascular sequelae, result in multi-system declines that precipitate the loss of functional independence and the onset of disability among older adults. RC-3 aims to improve our ability to prevent and reverse these declines. The central hypothesis of Rehabilitation Science and Technologies Resource Core 3 (RC-3) is that neuromotor learning-based therapeutics including rehabilitation robotics will improve sensorimotor recovery and enhance function by mechanisms of activity dependent plasticity in older Americans with functional limitations and disability. Aims: 1) To develop and support mechanistic investigations of physical activity and exercise-mediated central and peripheral neuromuscular adaptations that underlie the neuroplastic mediated improvements in functional performance produced by rehabilitative interventions and enabling technologies.; 2) To mentor and support REC Scholars and UM-OAIC investigators in the design, development and implementation of motor learning-based rehabilitation studies and enabling technologies and the underlying neuromuscular mechanisms to improve functional outcomes in older persons with functional limitations; and 3) To facilitate translation of UM-OAIC discoveries across the mechanistic, rehabilitation engineering, applied clinical testing, and technology transfer phases in order to catalyze transition of discoveries into evidence-based services, products, and tools for precision rehabilitation. We continue this core’s heritage of investigating models of motor learning and mechanisms of activity dependent plasticity to enable functional recovery in aging, chronic disease, and disability. This approach relies on the synergy between RC-3 developing the neuroscience-based motor learning elements of interventions with RC-2 co-designing the exercise, and joint planning on multi-system mechanistic studies that converge upon the central and peripheral neuromuscular systems and cardiovascular- metabolic adaptations that underlie the benefits. We expand beyond but still include prior strengths in rehabilitation medicine, physical therapy, and balance research by building new bioengineering capacity and expanding rehabilitative technologies to facilitate innovation at the intersection of these disciplines. Our approach now leverages multi-level functional and sensorimotor performance assessments, rehabilitation robotics, and engineering models that rely on joint analysis with RC-1 to advance precision rehabilitation and produce new technologies that enhance recovery. Technology transfer processes and academic-private partnerships are introduced to accelerate translation. RC-3 will advance the UM-OAIC mission to reduce disability and restore function in older individuals and accelerate the translation of science-driven rehabilitation t...