We compared sense of movement and position in unconstrained 3-dimensional tasks in younger and older adults to investigate whether older adults have diminished kinesthetic sense. Active and passive kinesthesia were compared in a novel dynamic-position sense task and also in a static-position sense task. Older (65-85 years) and younger (18-22) adults performed tasks in which they moved the right arm to touch the right index tip to the moving and stationary left index (target) fingertip in different conditions. In the dynamic task the participant or experimenter moved the left upper limb and, after a variable delay, the subject moved the right arm to attempt to touch the right index-tip to the moving target index-tip. Participants performed the dynamic task with vision actively moving both limbs (VDA), without vision while actively moving both limbs (NVDA), and without vision with the experimenter moving the target limb (NVDP). In the static task the participant (NVSA) or experimenter (NVSP) moved the target limb to a position and held it stationary while the participant moved the right arm to attempt to touch the right index tip to the target fingertip. Both younger and older adults performed the dynamic task remarkably accurately with errors averaging less than 1.6 cm across the 3 conditions. Mean 3-dimensional distance errors averaged slightly (0.19 cm) larger in older adults in the dynamic task (F₁,₂₅=5.88, p=0.02). Variable distance errors did not differ between age groups in the dynamic task (F₁,₂₅=0.90, p=0.35). Small errors were observed in all conditions. NVDP had the largest mean distance errors (1.81 cm) of moving conditions, followed by NVDA (1.65 cm), and VDA had the smallest errors (1.27 cm) (F₂,₅₀=49.55, pcorr< .001, all post hoc tests less than p< 0.05). There was no evidence of errors depending on target index-tip peak speed or location. Interestingly, distance errors in the static tasks averaged 3.0 cm and were clearly larger than in the dynamic tasks (F₁,₂₅=57.78, p< 0.001). Within the two static conditions, average errors were 0.5 cm larger in the NVSP condition than in the NVSA condition (F₁,₂₅=7.56, p=0.01). Average distance errors trended to being larger in older adults in static conditions (F₁,₂₅=3.53, p=0.07). Variable distance errors were similar for the two age groups in the static conditions (F₁,₂₅=.25, p=0.35), averaging 1.77 cm in NVSP and 1.38 cm in NVSA (F₁,₂₅=.7.98, p< 0.01). These results suggest that regardless of age, availability of visual information, active/passive target limb movement, or reaching to static versus moving targets that adults are generally quite accurate at localizing fingertip position. The finding that accuracy in the static and dynamic tasks when vision was not allowed was only slightly better when the subjects actively moved the target arm (i.e., NVDA, NVSA) than when the target arm was moved by the experimenter (NVDP, NVSP) indicates that internal models may contribute only very slightly to proprioceptive localization of the upper limb. However, it is clear that kinesthetic sensory information from the periphery is sufficient to allow the central nervous system to accurately calculate position of the endpoint of the limb (tip of the index) while unconstrained in 3-dimensional space.

Med våra kroppar som verktyg mäter vi rummet, beräknar stabilitet, skala, riktning. Arkitektur stimulerar våra sinnen och skapar förutsättningar för rörelse. Koreografi är en komposition av rörelser. Koreografi är också att bestämma hur en eller flera personer ska röra sig. Mitt projekt undersöker hur arkitektur koreograferar kroppen och hur jag som inredningsarkitekt därmed kan agera koreograf i mitt arbete. / We use our bodies as tools to measure space, stability, scale and direction. Architecture stimulates our senses and sets a stage for movement. Choreography is a composition of movements. Choreography is also deciding how people move. My project investigates in what way architecture choreographs the body and how I as an interior architect can act choreographer in my work.

The master’s thesis explores the importance of our bodies as musicians in establishing the positive impacts of mindfulness on performance, particularly in terms of improving body mapping. Musicians are aware that holding extreme tension in their bodies can affect the quality of the music. Therefore, understanding the complex workings of our bones, muscles, and connective tissues while performing can provide deep explanations on how to reduce pain and tension that can be caused by poor posture, a lack of balance, restricted movement, and other related factors. The approaches taken in this thesis involve developing an awareness of the important joints and bones for violinists and understanding their functions during performances, as well as whether they are well mapped or mis-mapped. For the sounding part, my exam concert included Beethoven's "Kreutzer" violin sonata No. 9, Op. 47, in A minor, and Shostakovich's Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor. The reason for choosing these two pieces to be performed in one concert is because they demand a high level of stamina and muscle strength from the performers. / <p>Beethoven's "Kreutzer" violin sonata No. 9, Op. 47, in A minor.</p><p>Shostakovich's Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor.</p>

No description available.

Chronic muscle pain is a significant medical and social problem and better understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms involved is an important requirement for further development of diagnostics, treatment and rehabilitation methods. Experimental imaging studies have investigated functional neuroanatomy of different pain components. However, several aspects of brain mechanisms underlying brain processing of muscle pain remain unclear. The general goal of the present thesis was to study functional brain anatomy of systems underlying perception of muscle pain, processing of proprioceptive information and maintenance of fatiguing muscle contractions with an emphasize on their possible interrelations. Four series of experiment were carried out. Using an injection of hypertonic saline (HS) into the m. triceps to induce pain comparable with clinical muscle pain a significant activation of insula and putamen as well as decrease of activity in the temporal and occipital cortex in comparison with control stimulation were revealed. An advanced model of prolonged muscle pain were provided by the infusion of the HS during 20 minutes into m. erector spinae A complex dynamics of brain activity during the habituation to nociceptive stimulation was shown: initial activation of insula changed to decrease of activity in this and several other cortical areas. A conjunction analysis identified activations jointly significant in both experiments (despite localization of HS nociceptive stimulation) in the right insula, occipital and left parietal cortical areas. The study of brain activity in response to different modalities of prorioceptive inputs – passive movements, kinesthetic illusions and muscle vibration showed corresponding different patterns of activation in motor and somatosenory areas and temporal areas. Finally, the study of sustained isometric muscle contractions of various force levels and durations revealed that muscle fatigue is associated with contralateral activation of the motor and somatosensory areas and temporal areas and bilateral activation in the supplementary motor areas and cingular cortex, indicating that increased efforts needed to maintain required force and its eventual breakdown with fatigue might induce activation of additional cortical areas. Analysis of data obtained in all experimental series revealed that insula, secondary somatosensory and auditory areas are activated during both perception of muscle pain and processing of somatosensory afferentation. In conclusion, this thesis has elucidated brain processing of muscle pain showing distributed, bilateral patterns comprised of activated structures predominantly attributed to the medial pain system and deactivated structures. Furthermore, initial and late phases of tonic muscle pain are associated with different brain reactions, namely initial activation of the insula followed by a significant bilateral decrease of activity at the late stage. Area of brain cortex located near lateral sulcus and comprised of secondary somatosensory cortex, posterior part of the insula and adjacent auditory cortex is engaged in the perception of muscle pain and processing of somatosensory afferentation as well as maintenance of fatiguing muscle contractions.

This thesis project aims to bring together knowledge and methods from embodied interaction design in order to help architects expand their current repertoire of sketching tools and methods. As argued by Bernard Tschumi (1996) and Juhani Pallasmaa (2012), architecture is a sight-dominated design field, and architects are faced with the paradox of having to design embodied, multisensory experiences with visual means and from a disembodied perspective.  Situated in the genre of physical computing, the outcome of this thesis is the prototype of a sensor-based tool for sketching with sound and kinesthesia. The prototype is primarily targeted to architects, but may also be of interest to professionals from other fields who are involved in space-making, such as interaction designers, artists, scenographers, and interior designers, among others. The findings of this thesis intend to contribute to the field of interaction design, and especially the subfield of embodied interaction. This thesis addresses the aforementioned problem domain, which was first identified when I practiced the profession of architecture, and then further understood during this project, namely during literature review and user research. Building upon three main areas of theory, this project finds its grounding in embodied interaction theory, phenomenological concepts, as well as a contemporary view of the soma as a united self of mind and body. Fieldwork was a very important part of the process, and methods such as interviews, surveys, and cultural proves were employed to ground the project in user research. Ideation mainly consisted of sketching with embodied methods. Lastly, the user testing of a Wizard-of-Oz prototype was essential in assessing and evaluating the final design.

La kinesthésie chez l’Homme repose sur le traitement des multiples informations sensorielles générées au cours de l’action. Notre démarche expérimentale vise à évaluer l’apport respectif des sensibilités proprioceptive musculaire, tactile et visuelle à la perception des mouvements du corps. Utilisant des leurres sensoriels capables de créer des illusions kinesthésiques, nous recherchons, lors d'approches psychophysiques et en neuroimagerie, les règles et aires cérébrales impliquées dans la fusion multisensorielle. Ce travail confirme que chacune des trois modalités véhicule des informations pertinentes pour le système nerveux central (SNC), qui se combinent différemment selon la vitesse du mouvement et les modalités en présence. Tact et vision véhiculent des informations cinématiques redondantes, complémentaires de la proprioception, relatives aux mouvements du corps dans son environnement. Elles semblent plus fiables pour coder des mouvements lents (Blanchard et al., 2011, 2013). L'IRMf met en lumière un réseau de convergence hétéromodal de perception d’un mouvement de la main et confirme que les régions pariéto-cérebello-insulaires sont le siège de processus d'intégration supramodaux. En combinant trois signaux sensoriels différents, ce travail fournit la preuve originale de leur intégration à différents niveaux du SNC, des aires primaires, jusqu’aux aires supérieures du traitement de l’information. Rappelant le modèle de "Modality Appropriateness" de Welch & Warren (1986), nos résultats soutiennent l'idée d'une pondération des entrées, optimisant la kinesthésie, en fonction de leur relative pertinence à coder un évènement donné. / Human kinesthesia is based on the processing of a great amount of sensory information available during action. To assess the respective contribution of muscle proprioception, vision and touch of self-movement perception, our experimental approach relies on sensory lures likely to generate illusory sensations of movement. In psychophysics and functional neuroimaging (fMRI) experimental setting, we try to better understand how and where this "multisensory fusion" occurs. This work confirms that each modality conveys kinesthetic information relevant for the central nervous system (CNS), is combined in a non-equivalent way according to the velocity of encoded movement and sensory modalities involved. Tact and vision seem to provide redundant cinematic information about body movements relatively to environment, complementary to muscle proprioceptive signals and seem to be more reliable for coding small velocities (Blanchard et al., 2011, 2013). Our neuroimaging results highlight a heteromodal network involved during kinesthesia and confirms that a supramodal insulo-cerebello-parietal region is the substrate for trisensory integration processing. By combining three kinesthetic signals from different sensory origins, this work provides evidence of integration at different levels of the CNS. Recalling the "Modality Appropriateness" model of Welch & Warren (1986), our results also support the idea of a weighted integration of sensory inputs, which would optimize kinesthesia, based on their relative relevance to encode a given event.

Under 2018–20 har jag under min masterutbildning i komposition inkluderat mina egna erfarenheter av synestesi och associerad synestesi i komponerandet och här även försökt att beskriva mina metoder för detta. Jag har försökt överföra upplevelser av text, färg, form och rörelse till musik. Detta är delvis inspirerat av pedagogen Gertrud Grunows arbete på Bauhaus för 100 år sedan men även av mina tidigare arbeten med kollage, grafiska partitur och dans. De ensembler jag skrivit för har varit mycket varierade idiomatiskt och storleksmässigt. För mig som komponist, sångare och improvisatör, men också pedagog är de synestetiska (associativa eller konkreta) metoderna en för mig oändlig källa till inspiration och ett praktiskt sätt att närma sig det kreativa arbetet. Min roll som utövande improvisationsmusiker är också en del av det, då improvisationen aktiverar så många delar av sinnet. Visuell, auditiv, kinestetisk och taktil inlärning påverkar hur vi förnimmer världen. Om du förstår individens unika perception får du större medkänsla och dessutom ett mindre prestationsladdat förhållande till ditt eget skapande. Det bild- eller textmaterial jag skapar hjälper mej att minnas mina grundidéer. Syftet med att vandra mellan olika medium, idiom och förnimmelser är att hitta ett sätt att komma kreativiteten nära – i smyg. / During the years 2018–20 I have included my own experiences of synesthesia and associated synesthesia in my composition processes, and in this essay I am describing the methods I have been using. I have tried to transform experiences of words, color, texture, form, and movement to music. This is, to some extent, inspired by the work of the pedagogue Gertrud Grunow at the Bauhaus art school in Germany 100 years ago, but also by my own earlier works with collages, graphic scores and dance. The ensembles I have been writing for have been varied idiomatically and in size. To me, as a composer, singer and improviser, but also as a pedagogue, synesthetic methods (both associative or concrete) are an endless source of inspiration and a practical way to approach the creative work. My role as a performing, improvising musician also takes a part of it since the improvisation activates so many different sections of the sensory system. Our different ways of learning, through the visual, audiative, kinesthetic and tactile, affect how we perceive the world. If you can learn to recognize different modes of individual perception, you will get a greater respect for your fellow humans, and also diminish the performance anxiety you might have in relation to the creativity. The texts and visual material I create in my processes help me to remember the original sources of inspiration. The purpose of wandering in between different media, idioms and sensations is to find practical ways to stealthily approach creativity. / <p>"From Ash to Birch" Lina Nyberg, KMH Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Simon Bång</p><p></p>

Title: The Influence of Pelvic Clock lesson from the Feldenkrais Method® on the Proprioception and the Range of Pelvic Movement Objectives: The aim of this diploma thesis is to investigate the influence of Feldenkrais method (FM) on the lumbar spine and pelvic movement functions. Specifically, changes in the ability of pelvis reposition, changes in stabilize pelvic movements and postural changes were tested after completing one FM lesson Pelvic Clock. Method: It is theoretical empirical work where quantitative research with elements of controlled study was used. For the study, 30 probands aged 20 to 30 years were selected and divided into two groups. Both groups underwent a pelvic reposition test twice. The second measurement took place 40 minutes after the end of the previous measurement. At this time interval, 15 probands in the experimental group underwent an intervention in the form of the Pelvic Clock lesson of the Feldenkrais Method. The control group of 15 probands in this time period focused on physically undemanding activities, i.e. sitting, walking, etc. The following parameters were determined for all probands: accuracy of pelvic reposition, range of pelvis movement, pelvic stabilization movements, and pelvic tilt change. The results are processed into graphs and statistically evaluated....

The primary argument in this thesis is that the common assumption that an actor has emotion inside him- or herself which can be evoked and projected outwards is an outdated misconception. A proposition is made to replace this possessive acting model, which underpins the realist tradition and is based on the popularized aspects of Stanislavsky’s system for actor training, by a situational acting model. This new model is founded on the idea that emotion is something that actors “do”. Furthermore, a theory of this situational model is advanced where the actor is seen to perform emotion in an interplay with action in three different ways: in the world symbolically as an expression, of the world phenomenologically as in-sensing or out-sensing, and with the world as a becoming – which opens the actor up to greater forces of nature and society.                                      The material in this thesis has been focused on from both a contextualizing and a theoretic perspective. The contextualizing perspective places the actor’s doing of emotions in a historical context. The theoretic aspect concentrates on how performing emotions is realized in practice, and it proceeds from an analysis of two contemporary Swedish examples: the actresses Lena Endre in the role of Lady Macbeth at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm in a production of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth from 2006, and Mia Skäringer in her stage show Horny as Hell and Really Holy from 2010. In exploring this material, a combination of Paul Ricoeur’s “hermeneutics of suspicion” and Paul Stoller’s ”sensuous scholarship” is applied.           A synthetic theoretical approach is employed that is set on a phenomenological foundation in combination with theories of emotion and affect as well as gender theory and theatre theory. The discussion is informed by Michael Polanyi to gain an understanding of tacit knowledge and the role of kinesthesia; by Simone de Beauvoir to establish a perspective on the body as a situation; by Sara Ahmed to see the potential for a cultural politics of emotion and a queer view of intentionality; and by Maurice Merleau-Ponty to propose a way of looking at the human being as being of the world as opposed to in the world. Interpretations of a few of Gilles Deleuze’s and Félix Guattari’s concepts such as rhizome, becoming, and body without organs, are added to this list in order to provide a background for what the third way of doing emotion is about.