Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Umeå universitet, 2005. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / The present study was conducted to explore further the general hypothesis that prolonged deficit in one perceptual modality during growth may have implications for the development of the residual intact modalities. Specifically, the absence of audition was hypothesized as having a retarding effect on the development of tactile-kinesthetic discrimination. A subsidiary aim was to clarify the interpretation of previous findings with the congenitally blind (Menaker, 1965) which indicated a four year developmental delay on one of the tasks administered (the size-weight illusion) in this investigation. A total of 192 children ranging in age from six through fourteen years served as subjects in the study; of this numb er, 84 were congenitally deaf, while 108 had normal hearing. The groups were matched solely for chronological age, although borderline children with respect to I. Q. , visual defect, and behavioral disorder were excluded. They were administered two tactile-kinesthetic tasks, a standard test of weight discrimination and the size-weight illusion, in counterbalanced order. [TRUNCATED] / 2031-01-01

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2004. / Härtill 4 uppsaatser.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / THE PROBLEM The purposes of this study were to determine differences among intellectually typical boys, educable mentally retarded boys, who were diagnosed as non-brain-damaged, brain-damaged, and undifferentiated on measures of kinesthesis, flexibility and strength. PROCEDURES Thirty-five boys, nine and ten years of age, were drawn from eleven elementary schools located in Springfield and West Springfield, Massachusetts. Ninety-one educable mentally retarded nine and ten-year-old boys were obtained from 27 schools and institutions for the mentally retarded located in New England and the middle Atlantic states. The educable mentally retarded boys were medically diagnosed as brain-damaged, non-brain-damaged, or undifferentiated by a criteria of (1), neurological examinations, (2) EEG findings and interpretations, and (3), supportive life histories. Four test measures of kinesthesis were used in the study. They were for the purpose of measuring the kinesthetic perception of an arm in space, a leg in space, distance between the two feet while standing, and static balance on a balance stick. Flexibility measures tested were ankle flexion and extension, and trunk flexion and extension. The tests of strength administered were the vertical jump and grip strength which were used to measure explosive strength, and static strength. The data were punched on to IBM cards, and the sums, means, standard deviations and intercorrelations between the test measures, chronological age, mental age, and I.Q. were computed on a 1640 IBM computer. The data were analyzed by analysis of variance. RESULTS 1. Significant differences were found between the intellectually typical group and all differentially diagnosed mentally retarded groups on static balance, the vertical jump, and ankle flexibility in favor of the intellectually typical group. 2. No significant differences between intellectually typical beys and all differentially diagnosed educable mentally retarded boys were found on measures of kinesthesis which tested the perception of the arm and leg in space, perceived distance between feet while standing, grip strength, trunk flexion and trunk extension. 3. Non-brain-damaged educable mentally retarded boys performed significantly better than both brain-damaged and undifferentiated educable mentally retarded boys on the tests of the Vertical Jump and the Leg Raise to Twenty Degrees Test of Kinesthesis. No significant differences were found on the other seven test measures of the study. 4. There were no significant differences between brain - damaged and undifferentiated educable mentally retarded boys on all test measures of the study. CONCLUSIONS 1. Within the limits of this study, it may be concluded that the function of the kinesthesis receptors is relatively unimpaired in educable mentally retarded children. This may have implications for the use of a methodology of teaching motor skills to mentally retarded children through increased use of the kinesthetic receptors such as by use of blindfold, or manual guidance procedures. 2. Tbe mentally retarded groups performed better on tests which required less integration of stimuli from both the vestibular and kinesthetic sensory media than on tests such as the Vertical Jump and the Static Balance Test where greater integration of stimuli from both the vestibular and kinesthetic senses were needed for success on the test measures. / 2031-01-01

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Univ., 2008. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Neck-shoulder pain is common in the general population and causes individual suffering as well as large costs for the society. Despite substantial efforts, there is still a shortage of methods for objective diagnosis and effective rehabilitation of such disorders. Thus, there is a great need to develop and evaluate new methods for these purposes. From clinical observations and recent research it has become evident that sensorimotor control can be impaired in people with neck-shoulder pain and may play a role in the pathogenesis of these disorders. In this thesis, precision of goal-directed arm movements, a previously unstudied class of movements in neck-shoulder pain, was studied. The main aim of the thesis was to investigate if people with chronic neck-shoulder pain have a reduced acuity of goal-directed movements of the upper extremity. A second aim was to study associations between reduced movement acuity and symptoms and self-rated characteristics. Upper limb repositioning acuity was assessed in blindfolded subjects performing tests of active, ipsilateral position-matching of two target positions (long and short) in movements constrained to horizontal-adduction of the shoulder. Reduced repositioning acuity, suggesting impaired shoulder proprioception, was found for both subjects with whiplash associated disorders (WAD) and non-specific neck-shoulder pain (NS). The degree of reduced acuity was shown to correlate with self-ratings of various health concepts, functioning and pain. A conspicuous finding was that there was lack of correlation between short and long target errors, along with the fact that associations between repositioning acuity and symptoms and self-rated characteristics was primarily found for the short target position. To further investigate the possible mechanisms underlying the disassociation between long and short target movement control, the association pattern between the outcome of several variants of ipsilateral position matching and velocity-discrimination tests, were studied. It was found that the perception of limb position in position-matching of short target locations appears to be predominantly based on movement velocity, whereas perception of limb position in movements to longer target locations may rely on a location-based perception mechanism. To extend the research on reduced upper extremity proprioception in neck-shoulder pain to a more natural movement situation, acuity of goal-directed pointing including full vision and 3D multi-joint movements was investigated in WAD, NS and healthy controls subjects. The results revealed a reduced acuity for both neck-pain groups. Moreover, distinct associations between end-point acuity and neck movement problems, limitations of some physical functions and, in WAD; some aspects of pain, were revealed. The findings demonstrate that the precision of upper limb movements can be reduced in chronic neck-shoulder pain. Substantial associations with symptoms and self-rated functioning suggest a clinical relevance of acuity measures of goal-directed arm movements. The findings indicate that tests of sensorimotor control can provide objective measures that may be useful in biopsychosocial profiling and characterization of subgroups of patients with chronic neck-shoulder pain, and that training target control of goal-directed movements should be considered in rehabilitation programs of people with these disorders.

The goal of the present study is to examine the enactive approaches of Susan Hurley and Alva Noë through the prism of Husserlian temporal constitution. In the first part we offer criticism to Hurley’s notion of ‘non-instrumental interdependence of perception and action’. Her grounding of this interdependence on the subpersonal level constitutional sensory input-motor output interdependence will be viewed as necessary but not sufficient for the first-personal level perception-action interdependence. That sufficiency can only be provided through an exposition of their constitutive interdependence at the first-personal level itself by a phenomenological analysis of perceptual and intentional acts. In the second part we examine Noë’s notion of the ‘virtuality’ of perceptual content. By interpreting his relevant concept of ‘free access’ according to the proposed motif of ‘expectation fulfillment’ we suggest that the problem of the virtuality of content should be interpreted as the problem of the constitution of the temporally enduring perceptual object. We shall work out this issue by appealing to the Husserlian account of perception. By a constructive reading of Husserl’s notions of ‘motivation’ and ‘kinesthesis’ we arrive at the ‘subjective temporal self-relating core’ of perceptual and motor acts. It is this functional temporal self-relatedness, described exclusively on the first-personal descriptive level, that finally offers us the sought after first-personal non-instrumental interdependence of perception and action. We finally suggest that augmented by this notion the sensorimotor approaches can have a better understanding of the neuroscientific explanandum and thus be better informed in their potential epistemological role. Some empirical literature is reviewed at the closure of the study in support of our case. / Στόχος της παρούσας εργασίας είναι η εξέταση των κιναισθητηριακών προσεγγίσεων της Σούζαν Χάρλεϋ και του Άλβα Νόε μέσα από το πρίσμα της χουσερλιανής χρονικής σύνθεσης. Στο πρώτο μέρος ασκούμε κριτική στην έννοια της ‘μη-εργαλειακής αλληλεξάρτησης αντίληψης-πράξης’, της Χάρλεϋ. Η θεμελίωση, εκ μέρους της συγγραφέως, της παραπάνω αλληλεξάρτησης στην συγκροτητική αλληλεξάρτηση αισθητηριακών εισόδων-κινητικών εξόδων του υποπροσωπικού επιπέδου περιγραφής θα χαρακτηριστεί ως αναγκαία αλλά όχι επαρκής για την αλληλεξάρτηση αντίληψης-πράξης στο πρώτο-προσωπικό επίπεδο. Η επάρκεια αυτή μπορεί να χορηγηθεί μόνο μέσα από την έκθεση της συγκροτητικής αλληλεξάρτησης τους στο ίδιο το πρώτο-προσωπικό επίπεδο, δια μίας φαινομενολογικής ανάλυσης των αντιληπτικών και προθεσιακών ενεργημάτων. Στο δεύτερο μέρος εξετάζουμε της έννοια της ‘δυνητικότητας’ του αντιληπτικού περιεχομένου, του Νόε. Ερμηνεύοντας της σχετική έννοια του της ‘ελεύθερης πρόσβασης’ με βάση το μοτίβο της ‘πλήρωσης προσδοκιών’ το οποίο εισάγουμε, προτείνουμε πως το πρόβλημα της δυνητικότητας των αντιληπτικών περιεχομένων θα πρέπει να κατανοηθεί ως πρόβλημα συγκρότησης του χρονικά διαρκούς αντιληπτικού αντικειμένου. Καταπιανόμαστε με αυτό το ζήτημα κάνοντας χρήση της χουσερλιανής άποψης περί αντίληψης. Μέσω μίας εποικοδομητικής ανάγνωσης των εννοιών της ‘κινητοποίησης’ (σχέσης-κινήτρων) και ‘κιναίσθησης’, του Χούσερλ, καταλήγουμε στον ‘υποκειμενικό πυρήνα χρονικού αυτοσχετισμού’ των αντιληπτικών και κινητικών ενεργημάτων. Είναι αυτός ο λειτουργικός χρονικός αυτοσχετισμός, η περιγραφή του οποίου γίνεται κατ’ αποκλειστικότητα στο πρώτο-προσωπικό επίπεδο, ο οποίος μας προσφέρει την ζητούμενη πρώτο-προσωπική μη-εργαλιακή αλληλεξάρτηση αντίληψης-πράξης. Καταλήγουμε προτείνοντας, ότι συνεπικουρούμενες από αυτή την έννοια οι κιναισθητηριακές προσεγγίσεις μπορούν να έχουν μία καλύτερη κατανόηση του νευροφυσιολογικού εξηγητέου και συνεπώς να δύναται να καταστούν πιο ενήμερες όσον αφορά τον πιθανό επιστημολογικό τους ρόλο. Η μελέτη κλείνει με μία ανασκόπηση μέρους της σχετικής εμπειρικής βιβλιογραφίας προς υποστήριξη των θέσεων μας.

L'environnement dans lequel nous évoluons nous apparaît comme stable. Il nous semble exister indépendamment de notre mouvement et du sens à partir duquel nous le percevons. Or, chacun de nos déplacements peut modifier l'information sensorielle : l'image rétinienne est constamment modifiée lorsque nous sommes en mouvement ou l'information tactile lorsque nous déplaçons la main pour identifier un objet. Par ailleurs, les éléments extérieurs peuvent se déplacer produisant également une modification de la stimulation de nos capteurs. La connaissance de notre propre mouvement dans cet environnement est un élément essentiel permettant de distinguer les modifications sensorielles liées à notre propre action de celles qui nous sont extérieure. Le mouvement est généralement réalisé par le capteur sensoriel: celui-ci subit la modification de stimulation liée à son propre déplacement. Le toucher est fondamentalement une modalité active car, l'objet exploré tactilement est généralement plus grand que la surface de peau utilisée pour ce faire. Le mouvement permet donc de reconstituer spatialement les caractéristiques de l'objet, en associant les informations locales successives. Mais, le nombre de degrés de liberté du mouvement en haptique complexifie cette opération, et l'on peut s'interroger sur la représentation de ce mouvement. Il a été observé que l'association sensorimotrice haptique apparaît pouvoir dépasser le cadre de son usage quotidien. Dans le cas de certains dispositifs de substitution sensorielle visuo-tactile, le participant, non-voyant ou bien les yeux bandés, déplace une caméra dont l'image est retransmise tactilement dans le dos grâce à une matrice de vibreurs tactiles. Après un entraînement, les participants rapportent percevoir l'élément filmé, et localisé dans l'espace. Or, il existe deux grandes différences par rapport à une perception tactile usuelle. Tout d'abord, la modification de la stimulation liée au mouvement correspond à une modalité distale, comme la vision, et non proximale comme l'est le toucher. Ensuite, le mouvement est réalisé par une partie du corps, le bras, et la conséquence sensorielle tactile est située sur une autre partie, le dos. Afin d'étudier l'association sensorimotrice dans la perception spatiale haptique, nous avons dû établir une méthodologie permettant de séparer le mouvement réalisé de la stimulation tactile résultante afin qu'ils soient situés à deux endroits distincts sur le corps. Nous avons tout d'abord choisi le cas où la conséquence tactile du mouvement d'une main est stimulée sur l'index de l'autre main. Cette expérience a montré qu'il existait une représentation du mouvement, abstraite de son origine, pouvant être associée avec la stimulation tactile situé sur l'autre main, sans entraînement. L'association sensorimotrice entre les deux bras peut être considérée comme un cas spécifique en raison de la coordination bimanuelle. Nous avons donc étudié cette association lorsque le mouvement est réalisé par le pied ou les yeux ou lorsqu'un point se déplace visuellement sans aucun mouvement du participant. Les résultats ont montré qu'il existe deux représentations complémentaires du mouvement. Une première, plus abstraite, correspondant au codage d'une direction dans l'espace. Elle est utilisée même lorsqu'il n'y a pas d'action mais simplement la visualisation d'un mouvement. L'autre représentation correspond aux caractéristiques du mouvement (amplitude/vitesse) et n'a pu être observé que lorsqu'il y avait une action. L'étude suivante s'est concentrée sur le référentiel de représentation de la direction du mouvement. Les résultats ont montré qu'il s'agissait en partie d'un référentiel centré sur le participant. Dans le cas où les bras étaient positionnés devant et à proximité du participant, présentaient une tendance plus instable voire allocentrique pour certains participants. / The world appears stable to us. It seems to exist independently from our own movements and the sense we use to perceive it. Our movements can however modify the sensory information we receive: the retinal image is constantly modified when we walk as is the tactile stimulation when we move the hand to identify an object. External objects can also move in the meantime, further modifying the stimulation. The knowledge of our own movement in the environment is necessary to distinguish sensory modifications linked to our own action and the ones linked to external movement. In most of the cases, the sensory receptor itself is moved in order to perceive and it generates the sensory modification linked to its movement. Touch is fundamentally an active modality. Explored objects are generally larger than the skin surface used to perceive them. Spatial characteristics of the objects are perceived thanks to the movement, by combining the successive local tactile information, which is made even more complicated by the degrees of freedom inherent to the movement in haptic perception. This leads to the question on how the movement is represented. It has been observed that sensory-motor combination in haptic goes beyond the way it is normally used on a daily basis. Participants -blind or blindfolded- uses visuo-tactile sensory substitution displays by moving a camera. The resulting image is "displayed" tactilely on the back of the participant using a matrix of vibrators. After a period of training, participants report that they perceive the filmed object, located in space. There are two main differences between this experiment and the usual haptic perception. First, the modification of the stimulation linked to the movement corresponds to a distal modality, like vision, and not a proximal modality, like haptic. Then, the movement is made with one part of the body, the arm, and the sensory consequence is perceived on another part of the body, the back. In order to study the sensory-motor association in spatial haptic perception, we have set up a method to divide location of the movement on the body from the location where the resulting tactile consequence is perceived. Our first study was the case of moving one hand and feeling the tactile consequence on the other hand's index finger. This experiment has shown that a representation of the movement, abstract from its location on the body, could be associated to the tactile simulation, without training. Moreover, we have studied this association in the situations where feet or eyes move, or for a seen motion (without any movement of the participant). Results have shown that there are two distinct and complementary representations of the movement. The first one, more abstract, corresponds to the spatial direction. It is used even when there is no action -visual movement-. The other representation corresponds to the movement's characteristics (amplitude/velocity) and hasn't been observed when participants are not moving. In another experiment, we have studied the reference frame of the movement's direction. Results have shown that the main part of the reference frame was egocentric but in the cases where the arms were positioned in front of and near from the participant, the reference frame was instable and even allocentric for some participants.

Cette thèse se donne pour tâche d’expliciter et de déployer, à partir de l’œuvre de Husserl, les diverses conceptions phénoménologiques directrices du mouvement de la chair. En un premier temps, nous cherchons à préciser le contexte d’origine du concept de « kinesthèse », élaboré une première fois à l’été 1907 dans le cadre des leçons de Husserl sur la chose et l’espace. En un deuxième temps, il nous apparaîtra nécessaire d’élargir la signification technique et restreinte que possède le se-mouvoir dans la phénoménologie statique de la perception, afin de prendre en compte le mouvement en tant qu’action pratique du sujet dans divers horizons du monde. L’étude de certains textes qui relèvent de la phénoménologie génétique semble alors permettre de parler d’une co-constitution pratique entre la mobilité de la chair et la choséité, et ainsi de considérer à neuf l’hypothèse d’une historicité de la chair. Dans un troisième et dernier temps, il s’agira d’opérer une radicalisation de la compréhension du mouvement de la chair, afin de la ressaisir comme « geste », c’est-à-dire non plus simplement comme officiant des projets intentionnels de l’ego, mais bien comme origine et support des structures cardinales du monde. La lecture croisée de divers textes tardifs de Husserl et de Heidegger nous permettra de dégager une compréhension ontologique, et non plus strictement sensualiste ou pratique, de la mobilité charnelle. Au travers de ces études, le mouvement se révèle originairement impliqué dans les divers niveaux de la constitution de la mondanéité, mais aussi constitué en retour. / This thesis sets itself the task of clarifying and deploying the various phenomenological conceptions of bodily movement within Husserl’s work. As a first step, we seek to shed light on the context which guided the formation of the concept of “kinesthesis” in the 1907 summer lectures on thing and space. As a second step, it will appear necessary to expand the narrow and technical meaning that this “moving-oneself” has in the static phenomenology of perception, in order to take into account the movement thought as a practical action throughout various horizons of the lifeworld. Some texts pertaining to Husserl’s genetic phenomenology seem to allow us to speak of a practical “co-constitution” between the mobility of the flesh and the handiness of the thing and, in doing so, to consider anew the hypothesis of a historicity of the flesh. As a third and final step, we will operate a radicalization of the understanding of bodily movement, in order to grasp it as a “gesture”, that is to say, not only as a mere implement of the intentional projects of the ego, but as the very origin and support of the cardinal structures of the world. The cross-reading of different later texts by Husserl and Heidegger seems to support the project of setting forth an ontological understanding of mobility that is no longer in any way sensualistic or pragmatic. Through these meanings, bodily movement reveals itself as being originally involved in the various constitutive levels of worldliness.

Purpose: Vibrotactile displays have been found to be beneficial in improving balance test scores that correlate with a decrease in fall rate in laboratory studies. Investigations of these devices have been limited to upright stance and have not been done in clinical settings. Furthermore, transitional movements facilitated by vibrotactile displays, such as forward lean and rise found in sit-to-stand, have not been investigated. A prospective study investigated the relationship between force platform vibrotactile intervention and balance test scores, sit-to-stand and falls in subjects with abnormal NeuroCom Sit-to-Stand test results and 2 or more self-reported falls within the last 6 months. Subjects: Subjects included 30 community-dwelling adults, aged 60 to 79 years, 10 as off-site controls, 10 as on-site controls, and 10 as on-site device intervention subjects. Method: The cohort is a prospective case/control study using Pearson r, paired sample t-test, multivariate analysis of variance (M)ANOVA), and Wilcoxon signed rank analysis to determine the relationship between standard of care physical therapy plus vibrotactile force platform device treatment and standard of care physical therapy only. The Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Dynamic Gait Index, functional independence measure-motor (FIM-Motor), NeuroCom Sit-to-Stand normative ratios, NeuroCom Comprehensive Report, and self-reported falls quantify change over time with repeated measure study design. Results: The study found a significant beneficial effect in the device intervention group which realized 39.5/56 to 51.2/56 mean score increase in Berg Balance Score, increase in mean Dynamic Gait Index from 11.7/24 to 19.8/24, mean increase in FIM-Motor from 16.4/21 to 19.5/21 and decrease in self-report falls from 4 to 2 by intervention Day 14. These finds encourage further investigation of vibrotactile force platform devices.