Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by debilitating impairments in motor control arising from pathophysiological alterations in basal ganglia circuitry and function. In this research thesis two main approaches, namely electrical recording and stimulation, are combined in order to better understand motor performance in Parkinson's disease and ways it might be improved. Three main types of motor behaviors are studied: discrete ballistic movement, repetitive movement, and motor adaptation. <ul><li>First, deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) was shown to improve the velocity of discrete, ballistic movements in PD. The neural correlates of ballistic movements were then studied by recording from the STN of PD patients, revealing onset of beta-range desynchronization prior to, and gamma-range frequency synchronization during, performance of fast arm reaches. To determine a causal role for these oscillatory frequencies in motor behavior, the motor cortex of healthy humans was stimulated at either beta or gamma frequency during a 'go/no-go' grip force task. Beta stimulation resulted in slower force generation on 'go' trials but enhanced inhibition during 'no-go' trials, whereas gamma stimulation resulted in faster force generation on 'go' trials.</li> <li>Second, STN DBS resulted in improved repetitive tapping performance in PD patients through a reduction in variability. Recordings from the STN demonstrated that repetitive movement was accompanied by a substantial and persistent suppression of beta oscillatory activity.</li> <li>Third, Parkinson's patients were tested on a motor adaptation task, revealing intact learning but impaired retention of a visuomotor rotation. Application of direct current stimulation of the motor cortex resulted in enhanced adaptation during both learning and retention in PD patients and healthy controls.</li> <li>These results causally implicate the basal ganglia and oscillatory activity in motor control, provide insight into the neuronal mechanisms of motor performance and adaptation, and demonstrate promising new avenues for enhancing motor control in Parkinson's disease.</li></ul>

The problem of this study was to determine the effect of a modified form of Kephart's perceptual-motor training program on the performance of kindergarten pupils on Metropolitan Readiness Tests. This program was made up of certain perceptual-motor activities which were utilized during the regular school play periods.

The problem of this investigation is to survey the total programs of selected kindergartens. Major emphasis on the program for the development of large muscle skills and activities will be carried out in the analysis.

This investigation examined the development of young children's behaviors on swings in the outdoor play environment and their emerging understanding of the physics principles associated with those behaviors. The children's language interactions were also examined in an effort to determine the relationship between language and cognitive development in their construction of physical knowledge. The procedures involved observing the children's behaviors and collecting samples of their spontaneous language interactions during their swinging activities. Informal interviews were also conducted with individual and groups of children. The findings indicate that young children's swinging behaviors develop in eight hierarchical stages. As these behaviors develop, children experiment with the physics principles of balance, gravity, force, resistance, and resonance. Children's swinging behaviors develop in a social context. Many early behaviors are acquired through observing and modeling other children. Language provides the medium for more-experienced peers to assist novice swingers through encouragement and direct instruction. The stage development of swinging behaviors is compared to Cratty's Theory of Perceptual-Motor Development and Harrow's Taxonomy of the Psychomotor Domain. Children's cognitive processing and language interactions are discussed in the context of Piagetian and Vygotskian theories of development. Implications for instruction and suggestions for further research are discussed.

The purposes of the study were (1) to validate five selected supportive and five selected non-supportive nonverbal movements, and (2) to determine the effects of the nonverbal expressions upon subjects' learning of a gross motor skill. Subjects were twenty-eight college women who met the established criteria. The testing instrument was the Bachman Ladder. Fourteen subjects received the supportive-- non-supportive nonverbal treatment sequence; fourteen subjects received the reverse treatment sequence. Subjects numerically ranked the degree of treatment following each experimental session. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance method. Alpha was .05. Conclusions of this study were (1) that nonverbal supportive and non-supportive treatments do not significantly affect gross motor learning, and (2) the selected expressions are valid techniques for nonverbal communications.

O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar a aprendizagem do passe do rúgbi com base na prática de diferentes estruturas funcionais. Os participantes foram 31 indivíduos de ambos os sexos, entre 18 e 30 anos de idade, sem experiência com o rúgbi. O delineamento envolveu três grupos experimentais: 2 vs. 0, 1 + 1 vs. 1 e 2 vs. 1. A fase de aquisição foi realizada em três dias com a execução de 60 tentativas do passe para o lado direito e 60 tentativas para o lado esquerdo. A fase de transferência foi realizada no último dia com a execução de 20 tentativas. O desempenho foi acessado por meio das seguintes medidas: (i) direção do passe, (ii) precisão do passe, (iii) direção da corrida, (iv) zona do passe e (v) desempenho global. Estas medidas foram calculadas através de um índice de desempenho considerando a taxa de sucesso em blocos de 10 tentativas. Os resultados mostraram que o grupo 1 + 1 vs. 1 foi o único que melhorou o desempenho global na fase de aquisição e o manteve no teste de transferência. Este grupo também foi o único que mostrou melhora em relação à direção e precisão do passe. E, em conjunto com os demais, o fez em relação à direção da corrida. Por outro lado, verificou-se que o grupo 2 vs. 0 piorou os desempenhos relativos à precisão à zona do passe e de passe.Pode-se concluir que a estrutura funcional 1 + 1 vs. 1 possibilitou a aprendizagem do passe do rúgbi / The aim of this study was to investigate the learning of rugby passing based on the practice of different functional structures. Participants were 31 individuals of both sexes, between 18 and 30 years of age, with no experience with rugby. The design involved three experimental groups: 2 vs. 0, 1 + 1 vs. 1 and 2 vs. 1. The acquisition phase was carried out in three days with the performance of 60 trials of passing to the right side and 60 trials to the left side. The transfer phase was held in the last by performing 20 trials. Performance was accessed through the following measures: (i) passing direction, (ii) passing accuracy, (iii) running direction, (iv) passing zone and (v) overall performance. These measures were calculated by a performance index considering the success rate in a 10-block trial. Results showed that the group 1 + 1 vs. 1 was the only one that improved overall performance in the acquisition phase and kept it in the transfer test. This group was also the only one that showed improvement in relation to the direction and accuracy of passing. In addition, along with the others, it did so in relation to the running direction. On the other hand, it was verified that the group 2 vs. 0 worsened performances related to accuracy and zone of passing. It was concluded that the functional structure 1 + 1 vs. 1 made it possible the learning of rugby pass

Orientadora: Lígia Maria Presumido Braccialli / Banca: Rita de Cássia Tibério Araújo / Banca: Gerusa Ferreira Lourenço / Resumo: Cada vez mais, o computador tem sido um recurso de tecnologia assistiva utilizado para possibilitar a participação de alunos com deficiência física severa nas escolas comuns. Porém, há a necessidade de prescrição de dispositivos de acesso ao computador, não convencionais, para que esses alunos consigam utilizar o computador com independência e autonomia. Considerando os comprometimentos motores e a fadiga muscular decorrentes das doenças neuromusculares, um dispositivo que ofereça o acesso e uso do computador com menor demanda muscular e menos gasto energético é essencial para esse alunado. Dentre os dispositivos ofertados, o rastreador ocular vem se destacando como um recurso de acesso eficaz para pessoas com deficiência física severa, entre elas as decorrentes de doenças neuromusculares. Contudo, o uso desse dispositivo demanda de um controle oculomotor preciso para que atinja os objetivos a ele alçados. O controle oculomotor, para tal finalidade, se encaixa na teoria da aprendizagem motora, a qual não pode ser diretamente observada, mas pode ser inferida pela melhora no desempenho motor. O objetivo desse estudo foi analisar o efeito de um programa de treinamento para uso de rastreador ocular no desempenho motor de crianças com doenças neuromusculares. Caracterizou-se por uma pesquisa experimental com delineamento de sujeito único do tipo A-B-A. Participou desse estudo uma aluna com 9 anos, diagnóstico de distrofia muscular. As variáveis pesquisadas foram acurácia, tempo de... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Increasingly, the computer has been a feature of assistive technology used to enable the participation of students with severe physical disabilities in ordinary schools. However, there is a need to prescribe non-conventional computer access devices so that these students can use the computer with independence and autonomy. Considering motor impairments and muscle fatigue due to neuromuscular diseases, a device that provides access and use of the computer with lower muscle demand and less energy expenditure is essential for this student. Among the devices offered, the ocular tracer has been highlighted as an effective access resource for people with severe physical disabilities, including those due to neuromuscular diseases. However, the use of this device requires precise oculomotor control in order to achieve the objectives set forth. Oculomotor control, for this purpose, fits the theory of motor learning, which can not be directly observed, but can be inferred by the improvement in motor performance. The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of a training program for use of ocular tracer on the motor performance of children with neuromuscular diseases. It was characterized by an experimental research with a single subject design of type A-B-A. A 9-year-old female student with a diagnosis of muscular dystrophy participated in this study. The variables studied were accuracy, reaction time, movement time and error. To evaluate the motor performance, the software Di... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

I investigated how two types of rhythmic complexity, syncopation and tempo fluctuation, affect the neural and behavioral responses of listeners. The aim of Experiment 1 was to explore the role of attention in pulse and meter perception using complex rhythms. A selective attention paradigm was used in which participants attended either to a complex auditory rhythm or a visually presented list of words. Performance on a reproduction task was used to gauge whether participants were attending to the appropriate stimulus. Selective attention to rhythms led to increased BOLD (Blood Oxygen Level-Dependent) responses in basal ganglia, and basal ganglia activity was observed only after the rhythms had cycled enough times for a stable pulse percept to develop. These observations show that attention is needed to recruit motor activations associated with the perception of pulse in complex rhythms. Moreover, attention to the auditory stimulus enhanced activity in an attentional sensory network including primary auditory, insula, anterior cingulate, and prefrontal cortex, and suppressed activity in sensory areas associated with attending to the visual stimulus. In Experiment 2, the effect of tempo fluctuation in expressive music on emotional responding in musically experienced and inexperienced listeners was investigated. Participants listened to a skilled music performance, including natural fluctuations in timing and sound intensity that musicians use to evoke emotional responses, and a mechanical performance of the same piece, that served as a control. Participants reported emotional responses on a 2-dimensional rating scale (arousal and valence), before and after fMRI scanning. During fMRI scanning, participants listened without reporting emotional responses. Tempo fluctuations predicted emotional arousal ratings for all listeners. / Expressive performance was associated with BOLD increases in limbic areas for all listeners and in limbic and reward related areas forthose with musical experience. Activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate, which may reflect temporal expectancy, was also dependent on the musical experience of the listener. Changes in tempo correlated with activity in a mirror neuron network in all listeners, and mirror neuron activity was associated with emotional arousal in experienced listeners. These results suggest that emotional responding to music occurs through an empathic motor resonance. / by Heather L. Chapin. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

This dissertation investigated the nature of pulse in the tempo fluctuation of music performance and how people entrain with these performed musical rhythms. In Experiment 1, one skilled pianist performed four compositions with natural tempo fluctuation. The changes in tempo showed long-range correlation and fractal (1/f) scaling for all four performances. To determine whether the finding of 1/f structure would generalize to other pianists, musical styles, and performance practices, fractal analyses were conducted on a large database of piano performances in Experiment 3. Analyses revealed signicant long-range serial correlations in 96% of the performances. Analysis showed that the degree of fractal structure depended on piece, suggesting that there is something in the composition's musical structure which causes pianists' tempo fluctuations to have a similar degree of fractal structure. Thus, musical tempo fluctuations exhibit long-range correlations and fractal scaling. To examine how people entrain to these temporal fluctuations, a series of behavioral experiments were conducted where subjects were asked to tap the pulse (beat) to temporally fluctuating stimuli. The stimuli for Experiment 2 were musical performances from Experiment 1, with mechanical versions serving as controls. Subjects entrained to all stimuli at two metrical levels, and predicted the tempo fluctuations observed in Experiment 1. Fractal analyses showed that the fractal structure of the stimuli was reected in the inter-tap intervals, suggesting a possible relationship between fractal tempo scaling, pulse perception, and entrainment. Experiments 4-7 investigated the extent to which people use long-range correlation and fractal scaling to predict tempo fluctuations in fluctuating rhythmic sequences. / Both natural and synthetic long-range correlations enabled prediction, as well as shuffled versions which contained no long-term fluctuations. Fractal structure of the stimuli was again in the inter-tap intervals, with persistence for the fractal stimuli, and antipersistence for the shuffled stimuli. 1/f temporal structure is suficient though not necessary for prediction of fluctuations in a stimulus with large temporal fluctuations. / by Summer K. Rankin. / Vita. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Since students can adjust the speed of online videos by time-compression which is available through common software (Pastore & Ritzhaupt, 2015), it is important to learn at which point compression impacts comprehension. The focus of the study is whether the speaker’s face benefits comprehension during a 50% compressed lecture. Participants listened to a normal lecture or a 50% compressed lecture. Each participant saw an audio and audiovisual lecture, and were eye tracked during the audiovisual lecture. A comprehension test revealed that participants in the compressed lecture group performed better with the face. Eye fixations revealed that participants in the compressed lecture group looked less at the eyes and more at the nose when compared to eye fixations for those that viewed the normal lecture. This study demonstrates that 50% compression affects eye fixations and that the face benefits the listener, but this much compression will still lessen comprehension. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection