No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Slip-induced fall related injuries are a serious public health issue among older adults leading to considerable mortality, morbidity, and immobility. Existing proactive exercise interventions have produced mixed results on the success of reducing fall accidents. A training intervention may be effective in reducing slip-induced falls, if it can help older adults to practice movements related to recovery responses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate two different training interventions using a moveable platform and virtual reality in order to improve reactive recovery in older adults. Thirty-six older adults were recruited and randomly assigned to three groups (moveable platform training, virtual reality training, and control). The training groups underwent three sessions including baseline slip, training, and transfer of training on a slippery surface. The control group underwent three similar sessions as the training groups, with the training session replaced with a normal walking session. Kinematic, kinetic, and EMG data were collected during all the sessions. The moveable platform training group was repeatedly exposed to simulated slips induced by anterior-posterior movement of a platform. The virtual reality training group was repeatedly exposed to perturbation induced by visual tilts in the virtual environment while walking on the treadmill. Various biomechanical and neuromuscular characteristics were identified to quantify the effects of training. The results indicated a beneficial effect of both training methods in improving recovery reactions in older adults via proactive and reactive adjustments. The reactive adjustments involved faster response to a slip perturbation mediated by reduced time for onset and peak muscle activation (specifically knee flexor), reduced knee and ankle coactivity, reduced time for peak knee, hip, and trunk angles, and angular velocity. The proactive adjustments involved an increased center-of-mass velocity and transitional acceleration of center-of-mass. The overall fall frequency was reduced in the training groups as compared to the control group through improvements in proactive and reactive responses. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationships among field dependency levels, performance on a non-locomotor balancing task both sighted and blindforded, and the acquisition of a complex biplanar motor skill. The participants for this investigation were young (ages 9-17) female gymnasts (n = 17) who had all received at least one year of gymnastics training, and could perform the prerequisite skills required for this experiment. All subjects were given the embedded figures test (EFT) (Witkin, Oltman, Raskin, & Karp, 1971) and a sighted and a blindfolded task on a stabilometer. The subjects, having been taught with a non-visual teaching method, were then given 50 trials of the full twisting back flip (FULL) on the trampoline. The gymnasts were attached to an overhead spotting rig to insure their safety. A single factor model (field dependence-independence) with three levels (high, middle, and low) was used to examine the relationships among variables. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to adjust posttest FULL scores to pretest scores and to assess the effects of field dependency levels on the FULL learning which:it:ook place. Multiple correlations were used to examine the relationships among EFT scores, stabilometer time in balance (TIB) and time in balance blindfolded (TIBB) scores, and pretest and posttest FULL scores. From the data analysis it was found that subjects' field dependency levels did not correlate significantly with their pretest or posttest FULL scores, or with the stabilometer measures. A significant relationship was found between pretest and posttest FULL scores (r = .837) and TIB and TIBB scores (r = .541). The following conclusions were drawn from the findings: (1) because of the lack of significant correlations between the FULL and either the EFT or the stabilometer task, the use of either of these measures as a predictor of the rate of learning of the FULL is not warranted; (2) of all the variables used in this investigation, subjects' pretest FULL scores are the best indicators of how rapidly they will learn the FULL, having been taught by the non-visual method. / M.S.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of client-directed choice in treatment for a child with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), as compared to a lack of client-directed choice. One way to exercise control over practice conditions is through incidental choices. In studies of non-speech motor learning, offering opportunities for incidental choice to the learner, thus increasing their autonomy, has been shown to enhance learning (Wulf & Lewthwaite, 2016). Increasing client engagement and buy-in could maximize their level of motivation in treatment, and lead to better learning outcomes. This study used a single-case, alternating treatments design consisting of two conditions (Child-choice and Clinician-choice). The treatment employed prosodic variation during speech practice; the speech practice involved the ASSIST protocol (Maas et al., 2022). Options for prosodic variation were presented using the name and vocal characteristics of three different emotional tones (happy, sad, and angry). Each treatment session alternated between two conditions. In the first condition, the participant chose the tone in which to practice each target. In the second condition, the clinician chose the tone. The primary outcome measure was accuracy, as judged by blinded listeners from recordings. Effect sizes were computed and compared between conditions to address the primary research question (Does client-directed choice enhance learning compared to clinician-directed choice?). Comparison between treated item sets and untreated item sets provided a replication of the overall ASSIST protocol. Preliminary results to date showed no clear effects for either autonomy or treated vs. untreated sets. / Communication Sciences

Background. People with spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) have symptoms that impact balance, gait, motor learning and control. Independently, balance training (BT) and aerobic exercise (AE) have improved motor function for people with SCA. Studies in stroke and Parkinson disease have evaluated the use of AE prior to BT as a form of motor priming to enhance motor learning. Motor priming has not been explored in SCA. Introduction & Purpose. This was a pilot randomized controlled trial aimed to 1) determine the feasibility and efficacy of an 8-week telehealth intervention of high intensity AE prior to BT (HIBT) compared to low intensity exercise prior to BT (LIBT) on disease specific motor and cognitive outcomes, and 2) explore changes in patient reported outcomes as well as functional outcomes post exercise intervention in people with SCA. Methods. Participants (n=20) were randomized to receive either HIBT, or LIBT, for 60 minutes, twice weekly, for 8-weeks over telehealth. The HIBT group underwent 30 minutes of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) prior to 30 minutes of BT, while the LIBT group underwent 30 minutes of low intensity warm up type exercises prior to 30 minutes of BT. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, mid- and post-intervention and included: disease specific measures (e.g., Cerebellar Cognitive Affective Scale (CCAS), Scale for Assessment and Rating of Ataxia at Home (SARAHome), functional measures of balance and gait (e.g., Timed Up and Go test (TUG), 30 second Sit to Stand Test (30secSTS)), patient reported measures (e.g., fatigue severity scale (FSS-49)) and metrics of feasibility. Data for disease specific, and functional outcomes were not normally distributed. Data for patient reported outcomes was normally distributed. Statistical significance of findings are reported as p-value. Results. A total of 93 people were referred to this intervention, and 20 were enrolled (21.5% enrollment). Eighteen participants completed the intervention and post-intervention outcome assessments (90% retention). Both the HIBT and LIBT interventions had high acceptance from on the post-intervention questionnaire. Enrolled participants had a mean (SD) age of 58.1(13.5) yrs; 6M/14F. Diagnoses were early-mid stage SCA types 1, 2, 3, and 6. Participants showed 100% adherence to the intervention, with 1 adverse event of low back pain exacerbation which resolved. Both groups improved on disease specific measures of the CCAS, and SARAHome where outcomes for the SARAHome surpassed the established group minimal detectable change score of 0.3 points. At post-intervention however, there were no between group differences identified on the SARAHome (p > .05), however for the CCAS the LIBT group demonstrated significant improvements at post intervention over the HIBT group (p < .01). There were no differences observed at post-intervention between groups for functional measures such as the TUG test, 30secSTS test, or in any static stance position. The LIBT group showed greater changes in fatigue post-intervention, (p < .05). The HIBT group showed no significant change in fatigue, however they displayed decreased tolerability to engage in BT after engagement in AE. The HIBT group managing to complete an average of only 8.50 BT exercises per session while LIBT completed 10.04. Conclusions. Results from this pilot randomized controlled trial support a telehealth-delivered exercise intervention for people with SCA 1, 2, 3, and 6, with low overall attrition, and high rates of intervention adherence, and acceptability. However, effect estimates do not support the hypothesis of motor priming in people with SCA. Fatigue after engagement in AE limited intervention tolerability for BT in the HIBT group, and this suggests that fatigue may stand as a potential barrier for not only exercise engagement and functional improvement, but also neuroplastic growth and motor learning potential. Future research should aim to optimize exercise prescription to mitigate fatigue in this population.

No description available.

It is still controversial whether mental practice – the internal rehearsal of movements to improve later performance – relies on processes engaged during physical motor performance and, if so, which processes these are. This series of experiments investigates this question. It utilizes a framework of ideomotor action planning theories, and tests whether mental practice may specifically draw upon planning- rather than execution-related motor processes, specifically those processes that “bind” intended action features to action plans. Experiments 1 to 4 utilize a classical stimulus response compatibility paradigm. Participants mentally practiced complex rhythms with either feet or hands while using the same or different body parts to respond to unrelated sounds. In contrast to previous work on stimulus response compatibility, we indeed found that responses were impaired – rather than facilitated – for those body parts that were concurrently used in mental practice. This result was found when participants mentally trained to memorize the rhythms (Experiment 1), to merely improve their performance (Experiment 3), when mental practice and execution directly followed one another and when separated by a different task (Experiment 4). These data link mental practice not to execution but planning related motor processes that are involved in binding intended action features to intended action plans. Experiment 5 and 6 then extend these results to imitation learning. Participants were instructed to learn the rhythms by observing somebody else, while again making unrelated responses with their hand and feet. While previous work on stimulus response compatibility focussed on testing automatic imitation processes, here imitation was therefore goal directed. We found, as in the previous experiments, that responses with the same body parts as used in the observed rhythms were impaired, suggesting that goal-directed imitation might rely on the same planning-related motor processes as the mental practice of action (Experiment 5). Importantly, these effects were only found as long as participants observed the actions with VI the purpose of imitating them later (i.e. formed action plans), but not when they merely tried to memorize the rhythms for later recognition (Experiment 6). The previous experiments suggest that mental practice and observation learning draw upon body-part specific planning processes. Ideomotor theories suggest, however, that action plans can be relatively abstract, and represented in terms of higher-level goals (i.e. the sequence of left and right button presses independent of the body part used). Experiment 7 and 8 therefore tested whether rhythms learned through mental practice or observation learning could be transferred to other body parts. As expected, we found a relatively high amount of potential transfer when rhythms were mentally practiced with one body part, and then had to be transferred to another body part (Experiment 7). However, this only held when participants learned the rhythms based on an abstract rhythm description, as in Experiments 1 to 4. If participants learned the same rhythms during action observation, any benefits were only obtained when the rhythms later had to be executed with the same (rather than a different) body part. Together, the present data suggest that mental practice does not rely on execution related-motor processes, and points to an involvement of planning related motor processes instead. We argue that such a planning-based account of mental practice is more compatible with the available evidence from body neuroscientific and behavioral studies, and allows one to resolve several debates. Moreover, it allows one to conceptualize goal-directed imitation in a similar manner as mental practice.