Jim Cotter

Jim CotterBSc, BPhEd, MPhEd, PhD
Tel 64 3 479-9109
Email jim.cotter@otago.ac.nz

Background

Jim Cotter is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Physical Education (Lecturer 2001-6). Jim obtained his BSc (1987, Physiology), BPhEd (1988, Distinction) and MPhEd (1992, Distinction) at Otago before heading to Australia and completing his PhD in Environmental Physiology at the University of Wollongong (1998). Following a lectureship there in 1997, he worked as a Research Scientist in the Australian Defence Science & Technology Organisation for three years (1998-2001), investigating human performance under adverse ergonomic and environmental conditions. Now at Otago he advises on SPARC’s High Performance Programme as required (especially for Athens and Beijing Olympics), and has served on the Executive Board of Sport & Exercise Science NZ (2005-2010).

Research Interests

Jim has three broad research interests:

  1. Thermoregulatory and cardiovascular control and determinants of tolerance under heat stress, and subsequently the effects of physical and physiological strategies to reduce heat-related strain and to maximise work tolerance.
  2. The limits of ultra-endurance, especially within exercise tasks lasting multiple days.
  3. What stimuli are important for health- and performance-related fitness adaptations; especially the separate and interactive roles and dose:response relations of different forms of strain (e.g., mechanical tension, heat or hypoxia).

Questions addressed in current and recently-completed research projects include:

  • To what extent and why does exercising limb (arms versus legs) and intensity (30-s sprints vs endurance) alter cardiovascular, autonomic, cerebrovascular, metabolic and psychophysical responses during exercise and recovery?
  • Does training status and the type of training (sprint versus endurance) alter the cardiorespiratory, metabolic and psyophysical responses to exercise?
  • What is the role of inherent individual factors (age, sex, aerobic training status, spinal cord injury) and situational factors (hyper- and hypo-hydration, hypoxia, heat, airflow, artificial cooling) on thermoregulatory, cardiorespiratory and cerebrovascular control, perceived status and exercise tolerance;
  • Can exercise induce fever in healthy humans? What role does the gut or muscle play in this response? Are trained people less susceptible? Is this response involved in exercise pacing?
  • Is fluid-regulatory strain detrimental or beneficial for heat and aerobic conditioning?
  • Are well-trained athletes less sensitive to acute cardiovascular, thermoregulatory, metabolic and cognitive effects of dehydration?
  • Do athletes dehydrate to greater extent in racing because of altered perception of thirst?
  • What are the physiological, physical, cognitive and psychophysical effects of prolonged ultra-endurance exercise, and how do these impact exercise pacing?

These questions are addressed in collaboration with some excellent Honours, Masters and Doctoral research students, a recent Research Assistant (Evelyn Parr) and colleagues in our School (esp. Drs Nancy Rehrer and Elaine Hargreaves (Nee Rose)), University (Dr Sam Lucas, Profs Rob Walker, Andre van Rij and Patrick Manning), Australia (Dr Jonathon Peake (Univ Queensland) and Professor John Hawley (RMIT)), Denmark (Assoc Prof Jörn Helge, Prof Frank Pott) and England (Prof Keith George (LJMU), Dr Emma Ross (Essex)), and a long-term, enjoyable collaboration between Dr Phil Ainslie (now at UBC Kelowna).

Techniques used in the projects include measurement of body temperature, on-line sweat rate and composition, perfusion of the whole-body, brain and isolated limbs, blood volume and composition, respiratory function, perceived status, work performance, blood glucose, and plasma concentrations of cytokines, fluid-regulatory and stress hormones and oxidative stress markers. Funding for projects has been obtained from the NZ Academy of Sport, SPARC, Otago Medical Research Foundation, NZ Rugby Union and Otago University.

Selected Publications

MacRae, B.A., Laing, R.M., Niven B.E. and Cotter, J.D. Pressure and coverage effects of sporting compression garments on cardiovascular function, thermoregulatory function, and exercise performance. European Journal of Applied Physiology. DOI 10.1007/s00421-011-2146-2 (2011)

Lucas R.A.I., Ainslie P.N., Morrison, S.A. & Cotter J.D. Compression leggings modestly affect cardiovascular but not cerebrovascular responses to heat and orthostatic stress in young and older adults. Age DOI: 10.1007/s11357-011-9250-4 (2011)

Murrell, C.J., Cotter, J.D., George, K., Shave, R., Wilson, L., Thomas, K., Williams, M.J.A. & Ainslie, P.N. Cardiorespiratory and cerebrovascular responses to head-up tilt I: Influence of age and training status.  Experimental Gerontology, 64(1): 1-8 (2011)

Wilson, L.C., Cotter, J.D. Fan, J-L., Lucas, R.A.I., Thomas, K.N. & Ainslie P.N. Cerebrovascular reactivity and dynamic autoregulation in tetraplegia. American Journal of Physiology – Regulatory, Integrative & Comparative Physiology 298:R1035-R1042 (2010)

Merry, T.L., Ainslie, P.N & Cotter, J.D. Effects of aerobic fitness on hypohydration-induced physiological strain and exercise impairment. Acta Physiol. 198(2):179-90(2010)

Palmer, C.D., Kennedy, G.J., Jones, A.M., Cotter, J.D.  (2009) Effects of prior heavy exercise on energy supply and 4000-m cycling performance. Medicine and Science in Sports & Exercise, 41(1): 221-229

Ainslie P., Cotter J.D., George K.P., Lucas S., Murrell C., Shave R., Thomas K., Williams M.J.A., Atkinson G. (2008) Elevation in cerebral blood flow velocity with aerobic fitness throughout healthy human aging. Journal of Physiology, 586(16):4005-4010

Merry, T.L., Ainslie, P.N., Walker, R. and Cotter, J.D. (2008) Fitness alters fluid regulatory but not behavioural responses to hypohydrated exercise. Physiology and Behavior, 95: 348-352

Lucas, R.A.I, Cotter, J.D., Morrison, S.M. and Ainslie, P.N. (2008) The effects of aging and passive heating on cardiorespiratory and cerebrovascular responses to orthostatic stress. Experimental Physiology, 93(10):1104-1117

Lucas, S.J.E., Cotter, J.D., Murrell, C., Wilson, L. Anson, J.G., Gaze, D., George, K. and Ainslie, P.N. (2008) Mechanisms of orthostatic intolerance following very prolonged exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology, 105(1):213-225

Fan, J-L., Cotter, J.D., Lucas, R.A.I., Cummings K.J., Thomas, K.,  Wilson, L. and Ainslie, P.N. (2008) Human cardiorespiratory and cerebrovascular function during severe passive hyperthermia: effects of mild hypohydration. Journal of Applied Physiology, 105(2):433-445

Lucas, S.J.E., Roberts, W.S., Palmer, C.D., R.J. Walker, Anson, J.G., Cook, C., and Cotter, J.D. (2008) Intensity and physiological strain of competitive ultra-endurance exercise in humans. Journal of Sport Sciences. 26(5):477-489

Sims, S.T., Rehrer, N.J., Bell, M. and Cotter, J.D. (2007) Pre-exercise sodium loading aids fluid balance and endurance for women exercising in the heat. Journal of Applied Physiology, 103(2):534-541

Helge J.W., Rehrer, N.J., P. Manning, Lucas, S.J.E. Gerrard, D.F. and Cotter, J.D. (2007) Increased fat oxidation and regulation of fat utilization genes during ultraendurance exercise. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica,191(1):77-86

Bradford, C.D., Cotter, J.D., Thorburn, M.S., Walker, R.J. and Gerrard, D.F. (2007) Exercise can be pyrogenic in humans. American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. 292(1): R143-R149

Cotter, J.D. and Taylor, N.A.S. (2005) The distribution of cutaneous sudomotor and alliesthesial thermosensitivities in mildly heat-stressed humans: An open loop approach. Journal of Physiology, 565(1): 335-345

Current Research Students

  • Kate Thomas PhD (co-supervisor)
  • Craig Palmer PhD 
  • Robert Creasy PhD
  • Monique Francois MPhEd
  • Hayley Guiney MSc (co-supervisor)

Completed Research Students

  • Carissa Murrell PhD (co-supervisor)
  • Luke Wilson PhD (co-supervisor)
  • Matthew Graham MPhEd
  • Evelyn Parr MPhEd (co-supervisor)
  • Rebekah Lucas PhD (co-supervisor)
  • Braid MacRae MPhEd (co-supervisor)
  • Samuel Lucas PhD
  • Shawnda Morrison PhD
  • Brad Wilsmore PhD (co-supervisor)
  • Linda Groenewegen (MSc, co-supervisor)
  • Andrew Garrett PhD
  • Stacy Sims PhD (co-supervisor)
  • Bradley Wilsmore PhD (co-supervisor)
  • Craig Harrison MPhEd
  • Carl Bradford MPhEd
  • Olivia MacLaren MPhEd
  • Guy Scoon (MSc, co-supervisor)

To see details of postgraduate students this staff member may be supervising please visit the Postgraduate Profiles section of our website.

Last updated 6 Sept 2011

University of Otago The School of Physical Education - Te Kura Akoraka Whakakori