Maria Budelman presents her research project at ACSM Greater New York Conference. MARIA BUDELMAN / COURTESY
Zendrah Bonnick, Staff Writer
On Nov. 8, Maria Budelman, a Manhattan University senior and kinesiology major, presented her research project, “Mind Over Injury: Exploring Mental Imagery as a Game Changer in Athletic Rehabilitation”, at the American College of Sports Medicine’s [ACSM] Greater New York Regional Chapters Fall Conference.
The conference took place at NYU Langone Health with Budelman being listed under the undergraduate original research category. Budelman spoke with The Quadrangle about her research, along with the future publication of her research abstract in the International Journal of Exercise Science [IJES].
Budelman researched the effect of mental imagery on the rehabilitation process for four months, after which she wrote an essay on her research. From there, she presented her work in October at the ACSM conference alongside her research faculty supervisor, Jeff Cherubini, Ph.D., MU professor of kinesiology and health. Budelman received funding for her research from the Fenton Summer Scholarship program.
“My research was on mental imagery and injury rehabilitation in athletes,” Budelman said. “I looked at how mental imagery can help athletes in their rehab process, cognitively, motivationally, with pain management and with feeling. I looked at those four different factors, and I surveyed 133 athletes from Manhattan University, and from other surrounding universities, and I had them answer our questionnaire through Google, which looked at whether or not they had been pushed or suggested by therapists, PTs, family members and coaches to use mental imagery in their rehab process.”
Budelman’s research showed a possible oversight in rehabilitation as it pertains to mental imagery.
“My findings had a lot to do with whether or not they had been prompted to use imagery,” Budelman said. “I found that less than half of the students had ever been prompted, [and] 46 percent were prompted to never use mental imagery in their rehab process. It shocked me, but it also didn’t because I think that this is a tool that is very underutilized.”
Cherubini became interested in supervising Budelman’s research after he began to recognize her interest in the rehabilitation process.
“I started helping Maria, she was very motivated to look at the topic via a course, Kinesiology 303/Psychology 330, which is sports psychology,” Cherubini said. “She was in that course with me last fall, and as part of the course, the students do a literature review paper, and she looked at imagery and via the work that she did on the paper and our discussions, I recognize that she was motivated and very interested in the topic…really just her interest and motivation is really what drew me to working with her.”
Christie Gonzalez-Toro, Ph.D, associate professor of physical education in the kinesiology department, made a statement on the research conducted by Budelman, while Budelman was also serving as vice president of the Phi Epsilon Kappa honor society.
“Beyond her roles as a student and researcher… She brings innovative ideas and strong leadership,” Gonzalez-Toro wrote in an email to The Quadrangle. “Maria’s research provides a holistic approach to the athletes’ rehabilitation process.”
During Budelman’s research, Cherubini was helpful given his past experience in research.
“I did publish a full paper, actually earlier, with a student [Zach Olivan]…and we researched dates looking at mental toughness for Division I women’s basketball,” Cherubini said. “And so to be in that project, I learned more about the journal. I learned more about the process of helping Maria submit an abstract for that journal and for this presentation…one of the goals with Maria would be to get, not just the abstract published, but also the full paper published.”
During the research process, Budelman faced unique roadblocks that she had to work through. After posting her research link on LinkedIn, hundreds of bot accounts filled out her survey, making her data invalid.
“Thank God I had Dr. Cherubini, who was an amazing professor, amazing advisor, to work with,” Budelman said. “He really helped me fish through all of the accounts that were not valid, and we were able to take out all the valid data and throw out the invalid data and invalid participants.”
In the future, Budelman’s abstract will be published in the International Journal of Exercise Science. Additionally, Budelman hopes to further expand upon this research.
Cherubini will also be presenting his research at the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, alongside Budelman, who will present some of her research on rehabilitation. Cherubini’s research, based on a holistic approach to treatment in the rehabilitation process, aligns with Budelman’s research on mental imagery in rehabilitation.
Budelman further elaborated on her goals for the impact of her research.
“My research really broadened my knowledge of how the brain influences healing,” Budelman said. “And with this, I have a very simple goal, which is to not just help patients in the future to heal, but to help them reconnect with themselves and their lives. And that’s what I want to use this research [for] and this mental imagery tool to do in my career.”