EDUCATION – I studied Aerospace Engineering at the University of Padua (Italy) and took my Master’s Degree in 2009. From 2006 to 2013 I worked as a freelance Motorsport Race Engineer, with a specialisation in Race Car’s Vehicle Dynamics and Suspension System design. In May 2018 I completed a PhD in Sport Science, graduating with highest honours, at the department of Training and Movement Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Germany), where since January 2017 I am also a lecturer. In 2018 I won a postdoctoral research fellowship from the German Research Foundation (DFG) and from March 2019 until July 2020 I was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Medical Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada). Since August 2020 I am an Academic Guest at the Laboratory for Movement Biomechanics, ETH Zurich (Switzerland) for a joint project with the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. My research focuses on motor control of locomotion, with a specific interest on running. The most important topics I deal with are motor coordination, proprioception, foot strike patterns, barefoot running and running economy. Here you can find a list of the publications I authored, with the link to download them, when available (opens in new tab).

Peer-reviewed publications

2022

Santuz, A., Janshen, L., Brüll, L., Munoz-Martel, V., Taborri, J., Rossi, S. & Arampatzis, A. Sex-specific tuning of modular muscle activation patterns for locomotion in young and older adults. PLoS One 17, e0269417 (2022).

König, M., Santuz, A., Epro, G., Werth, J., Arampatzis, A. & Karamanidis, K. Differences in muscle synergies among recovery responses limit inter-task generalisation of stability performance. Hum. Mov. Sci. 82, 102937 (2022).

Taborri, J., Santuz, A., Brüll, L., Arampatzis, A. & Rossi, S. Measuring Kinematic Response to Perturbed Locomotion in Young Adults. Sensors 22, 672 (2022).

2021

Munoz-Martel, V., Santuz, A., Bohm, S. & Arampatzis, A. Proactive Modulation in the Spatiotemporal Structure of Muscle Synergies Minimizes Reactive Responses in Perturbed Landings. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 9, (2021).

Bohm, S., Mersmann, F., Santuz, A., Schroll, A. & Arampatzis, A. Muscle-specific economy of force generation and efficiency of work production during human running. Elife 10, (2021).

v.d. Zouwen, C. I., Boutin, J., Fougère, M., Flaive, A., Vivancos, M., Santuz, A., Akay, T., Sarret, P., Ryczko, D. Freely Behaving Mice Can Brake and Turn During Optogenetic Stimulation of the Mesencephalic Locomotor Region. Front. Neural Circuits 15, 1–18 (2021).

Mademli, L., Mavridi, D., Bohm, S., Patikas, D. A., Santuz, A., Arampatzis, A. Standing on unstable surface challenges postural control of tracking tasks and modulates neuromuscular adjustments specific to task complexity. Sci. Rep. 11, 6122 (2021).

Bohm, S., Mersmann, F., Santuz, A. & Arampatzis, A. Enthalpy efficiency of the soleus muscle contributes to improvements in running economy. Proc. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci. 288, 20202784 (2021).

Munoz-Martel, V., Santuz, A., Bohm, S. & Arampatzis, A. Neuromechanics of Dynamic Balance Tasks in the Presence of Perturbations. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 14, (2021).

Janshen, L., Santuz, A. & Arampatzis, A. Muscle Synergies in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis Reveal Demand-Specific Alterations in the Modular Organization of Locomotion. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 14, (2021).

2020

Santuz, A., Ekizos, A., Kunimasa, Y., Kijima, K., Ishikawa, M. & Arampatzis, A. Lower complexity of motor primitives ensures robust control of high-speed human locomotion. Heliyon 6, e05377 (2020).

Mileti, I., Serra, A., Wolf, N., Munoz-Martel, V., Ekizos, A., Palermo, E., Arampatzis, A. & Santuz, A. Muscle activation patterns are more constrained and regular in treadmill than in overground human locomotion. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. (2020).

Santuz, A. & Akay, T. Fractal analysis of muscle activity patterns during locomotion: pitfalls and how to avoid them. J. Neurophysiol. jn.00360.2020 (2020).

Santuz, A., Brüll, L., Ekizos, A., Schroll, A., Eckardt, N., Kibele, A., Schwenk, M. & Arampatzis, A.. Neuromotor Dynamics of Human Locomotion in Challenging Settings. iScience 23, 100796 (2020).

Taborri, J., Keogh, J., Kos, A., Santuz, A., Umek, A., Urbanczyk, C., van der Kruk, E., Rossi, S. Sport Biomechanics Applications Using Inertial, Force, and EMG Sensors: A Literature Overview. Appl. Bionics Biomech. 2020, 1–18 (2020).

Mileti, I., Zampogna, A., Santuz, A., Asci, F., Del Prete, Z., Arampatzis, A., Palermo, E., Suppa, A. Muscle Synergies in Parkinson’s Disease. Sensors 20, 3209 (2020).

Janshen, L., Santuz, A., Ekizos, A. & Arampatzis, A. Fuzziness of muscle synergies in patients with multiple sclerosis indicates increased robustness of motor control during walking. Sci. Rep. 10, 7249 (2020).

2019

Santuz, A., Mayer, W., Wells, T.L., Schroll, A., Arampatzis, A. & Akay, T. Modular organization of murine locomotor pattern in the presence and absence of sensory feedback from muscle spindles. J. Physiol. JP277515 (2019).

Bohm, S., Mersmann, F., Santuz, A. & Arampatzis, A. The force–length–velocity potential of the human soleus muscle is related to the energetic cost of running. Proc. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci. 286, 20192560 (2019).

Munoz-Martel, V., Santuz, A., Ekizos, A. & Arampatzis, A. Neuromuscular organisation and robustness of postural control in the presence of perturbations. Sci. Rep. 9, 12273 (2019).

2018

Santuz, A., Ekizos, A., Janshen, L., Mersmann, F., Bohm, S., Baltzopoulos, V. & Arampatzis, A. Modular control of human movement during running: an open access data set. Front. Physiol. 9, 1509 (2018).

Santuz, A., Ekizos, A., Eckardt, N., Kibele, A. & Arampatzis, A. Challenging human locomotion: stability and modular organisation in unsteady conditions. Sci. Rep. 8, 2740 (2018).

Bohm, S., Marzilger, R., Mersmann, F., Santuz, A. & Arampatzis, A. Operating length and velocity of human vastus lateralis muscle during walking and running. Sci. Rep. 8, 5066 (2018).

Ekizos, A., Santuz, A., Schroll, A. & Arampatzis, A. The maximum Lyapunov exponent during walking and running: reliability assessment of different marker-sets. Front. Physiol. 9, 1101 (2018).

Ekizos, A., Santuz, A. & Arampatzis, A. Short- and long-term effects of altered point of ground reaction force application on human running energetic. J. Exp. Biol. jeb.176719 (2018).

2017

Santuz, A., Ekizos, A., Janshen, L., Baltzopoulos, V. & Arampatzis, A. The Influence of Footwear on the Modular Organization of Running. Front. Physiol. 8, 958 (2017).

Santuz, A., Ekizos, A., Janshen, L., Baltzopoulos, V. & Arampatzis, A. On the Methodological Implications of Extracting Muscle Synergies from Human Locomotion. Int. J. Neural Syst. 27, 1750007 (2017)

Ekizos, A., Santuz, A. & Arampatzis, A. Transition from shod to barefoot alters dynamic stability during running. Gait Posture 56, 31–36 (2017).

Janshen, L., Santuz, A., Ekizos, A. & Arampatzis, A. Modular control during incline and level walking in humans. J. Exp. Biol. 220, 807–813 (2017).

2016

Santuz, A., Ekizos, A. & Arampatzis, A. A Pressure Plate-Based Method for the Automatic Assessment of Foot Strike Patterns During Running. Ann. Biomed. Eng. 44, 1646–1655 (2016).