University of Stuttgart - Dept. of Sport and Exercise Science
Allmandring 28 70569 Stuttgart - Germany
Phone: +49 711 685 63042 - Fax: +49 711 685 63165
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Professor for Human Movement Performance at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. Primary research interests are associated with cognitive and motor development in children and older adults. Research experience has been gained working within the Motor Development Research Groups at the University of Frankfurt, Karlsruhe and Giessen, Germany and at the University of Illinois, USA. During this period she studied for and submitted her doctoral thesis, entitled "Prognosis and stability of motor performance capability". The primary thrust of the research was to estimate motor performance over a span of 20 years.
Schott's recent research is focused in the area of motor behavior at both ends of the life span. Her work specifically examines the effects of physical activity and fitness on motor competence and cognitive performance (e.g., academic achievement, inhibitory control, or executive function) in children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). Her research has shown, for example, that children with DCD are unable to perform motor abilities and motor skills at a level of competence that is equal to their age-matched peers, which is one of the most prominent aspects of this disorder.
Schott's research related to aging include funded projects that investigate motor imagery as a tool in the rehabilitation of older adults, the relationship between aging, fitness and neurocognitive functions and falls prevention in older adults. For example, she and her students have been examining the influence of working memory, age, gender, and physical activity on motor imagery in healthy older adults. To that end they have demonstrated that the classic effect of a close correspondence between active and imagined durations could not be replicated for age groups aged 70 years and older walking short distances, whereas it was still found in groups younger than 70 years. Ongoing research is examining in the neural correlates of motor imagery in older adults (Post-Doctoral Research Scholarship at the Productive Aging Laboratory at the Beckman Institute, University of Illinois, USA). Furthermore, Schott and her students are interested in interventions that can prevent falls in older adults. As the population becomes increasingly sedentary and ages rapidly, the situation for falls and fall-related injury is expected to worsen and calls for comprehensive and effective intervention strategies. To that end, they have conducted a longitudinal study exploring the effects of a motor and a cognitive training on selective aspects of motor performance and cognition of older adults. 
Schott use a variety of approaches and methods to address these questions, including behavioral methods, movement analysis, EMG and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
Her interests in applying research to the improvement of people’s live has led to collaborations with the National Olympic Committee of Germany and educational departments in India, Papua-New Guinea, and Thailand providing services to children, adolescents, women and older adults.