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Participants with Down syndrome (DS) as well as typically developing peers matched for mental and chronological age completed a 3-step movement sequence in response to visual (lights), verbal (spoken word), meaningful auditory (music), and non-meaningful auditory (tones) instructions. Results indicate that participants with DS demonstrated slower reaction time in the visual condition but were more consistent in their movement time and made fewer errors suggesting they adopted a strategy in which they traded speed for accuracy. Further, they were slowest, most variable, and made the most errors in the non-meaningful auditory condition indicating that the amount of meaning associated with the method of instruction is an important determinant of motor performance. These results support the assertion that motor performance for persons with DS is determined in part by the unique pattern of cerebral lateralization for this population while at the same time demonstrating the importance of task and stimulus familiarity.

Augmented feedback is typically defined as performance- or outcome-related information presented to a motor skill learner in a practice environment (Schmidt & Lee, 2001). This information, which supplements naturally-occurring, task-intrinsic information, has been found to facilitate motor skill learning (Salmoni, et al., 1984). These benefits to motor learning, however, are mediated by several factors including the sensory channel (modality) in which feedback is presented. While augmented feedback presented visually does not typically produce lasting benefits to skilled performance (Sigrist et al, 2013), research in related areas suggests that augmented feedback presented in an audiovisual fashion may benefit motor learning in ways that overcome the limitations of unimodal visual research. Building off this research, the current series of experiments examined how augmented feedback presented audiovisually influenced motor learning of a simple motor task relative to augmented feedback presented either visually or aurally. The first experiment, subjects performed a novel steering task with their non-dominant hand and were tasked with staying within a pre-established boundary. During the practice phase, participants received concurrent feedback regarding their performance. Participants were then tested 24-hours post-practice to examine how feedback presented during practice would affect performance on no-feedback retention and transfer tests. Results from this study indicated that both audiovisual and aural feedback presented during practice facilitate motor learning, whereas feedback presented visually does not. In the second experiment, participants completed the steering task used in experiment one but with an additional timing component added. During practice participants were given two simultaneous streams of concurrent feedback presented either multimodally (e.g. timing information presented aurally, spatial information presented visually) or unimodally (e.g. both timing and spatial information presented aurally). Results from the second study indicated that modally-appropriate multimodal feedback facilitated motor learning to a greater degree than unimodal feedback even when multiple streams of information are presented within the augmented feedback. Theoretical and practical implications are further discussed.

Orientador: Li Li Min / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciencias Medicas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-10T03:39:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cannonieri_GiannaCarla_M.pdf: 2892396 bytes, checksum: 985d7c525864a8b128f7d574556ef6b9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: Introdução: O treinamento prolongado de tarefas motoras está associado com a execução automática dos movimentos. A adaptação funcional induzida pelo treinando resulta em uma melhora do desempenho motor. Não se compreende ainda inteiramente se essa adaptação funcional é refletida em mudanças plásticas na estrutura do cérebro. Objetivo: Investigar a presença e o grau de plasticidade cerebral estrutural do cérebro induzida por um treino motor bimanual prolongado em digitadores experientes profissionais. Sujeitos/Métodos: Foram avaliados 17 digitadores profissionais. Através da técnica de Mofometria Baseada em Voxels (VBM), que utiliza imagens de ressonância magnética de alta resolução, correlacionamos o tempo de prática como digitador com o volume de substancia cinzenta cerebral (VSC). Utilizamos as regiões de interesse (ROI) disponibilizadas pela AAL (anatomical automatic labeling) library e o programa MARSBAR para o SPM2. Resultados: Encontramos uma regressão positiva significativa entre VSC e tempo de prática em seis regiões cerebrais: hemisfério cerebelar inferior medial esquerdo, hemisfério cerebelar inferior medial direito, região frontal orbital medial direita, lóbulo paracentral direito e o pólo temporal direito. Discussão: Nosso estudo sugere que a prática prolongada de digitação pode produzir mudanças macroscópicas estruturais no cérebro de adultos saudáveis. Uma atividade motora coordenada, bimanual e seqüencial dos dedos impõe uma demanda neural nas regiões corticais relacionadas à programação e execução da tarefa motora, incluindo a área motora suplementar, córtex pré-frontal e cerebelo. Conclusão: A plasticidade cerebral pode ocorrer am adultos. O treino motor prolongado pode aumentar o VSC em áreas específicas do córtex cerebral e cerebelo, relacionadas à coordenação e planejamento motor, importantes para a execução da atividade de digitação / Abstract: Background: Long-term training of specific motor tasks is associated with automatic execution of movements. Functional adaptation induced by training results in performance improvement. It is not yet fully understood whether functional adaptation is reflected by plasticity changes in brain structure. Objectives: We aimed to investigate the presence and degree of structural brain plasticity induced by long-term bimanual motor activity executed by professional typists. Subjects/Methods: We studied 17 right-handed professional typists. Using voxel-based morphometry (VBM), we correlated duration of practice and gray matter volume. Local regions of interest (ROI) -VBM was applied using predefined 116 previously segmented brain sites (from the anatomical automatic labeling library) and MARSBAR package. Results: We found a significant positive regression between GMV and duration of practice in six regions: left medial inferior cerebellar hemisphere, right medial inferior cerebellar hemisphere, right medial orbital region, right paracentral lobule and the right temporal pole. Discussion: Our study suggests that long-term typewriting practice may yield macroscopic changes in brain structures of healthy adults. Non-mirror sequential bimanual finger activity coordination creates a demand in cortical regions related to the programming of motor task, including the supplementary motor area, prefrontal cortices and cerebellum. Conclusion: Neural plasticity occurs in adult brain. Long-term bimanual training may increase GMV in specific brain areas of cerebral cortex and cerebellum. These regions are related to bimanual motor coordination and planning, which are important for typing / Mestrado / Neurociencias / Mestre em Fisiopatologia Médica

Background: There is limited data on active play both in terms of perceived competence and actual motor performance in children living in low- and middle-income countries. Promotion of active play in children is crucial for enhancing participation in physical activity and reducing the burden of obesity. Regular engagement in active play is important for promoting optimal development and increasing physical activity levels in children. Despite the increased interest in active play and physical fitness worldwide, many children in low-resource settings are thought to be physically inactive due to the lack of physical activity-promoting resources and programmes. The 2018 Ghana Report Card on physical activity reports that a high proportion of Ghanaian children do not achieve recommended physical activity levels and a high percentage of these children have poor motor skills. To date, no published study has examined active play among school-aged children in Ghana. Investigating the nature of active play by assessing perceived and actual motor performance among Ghanaian children can serve to increase our understanding of activity deficits, movement difficulties and associated factors in this population. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the nature of active play in children aged 6-12 years in Ghana. Specific Objectives: 1. To determine children and caregivers' perceptions of children's motor performance in active play using the Motor Coordination Questionnaire (MCQ). 2. To determine children and caregivers' perceptions of the importance of active play. 3. To identify additional forms of active play and games (which are not listed on the MCQ) that children and caregivers perceive to be important and meaningful. 4. To determine the relationship between MCQ ratings by caregivers and children. 5. To determine the relationship between children's MCQ and actual motor performance. 6. To determine the relationship between caregivers' MCQ and actual motor performance. Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive and analytical design was used. Three primary schools were purposively selected for this study. The study recruited 406 children and their caregivers for this study. Ethical approval was sought from the Ethics Review Committee of the Ghana Health Service (GHS-ERC 052/05/19) and the University of Cape Town Faculty of Health Sciences Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC REF: 112/2020). Data was collected from both caregivers and children (aged 6-12 years) using questionnaires and the Performance and Fitness (PERF-FIT) test battery. The MCQ-caregivers and MCQ-children were used to assess perceived motor performance, and the PERF-FIT test was used to measure children's actual motor performance. In using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0 (SPSS Inc, IBM Company, Armonk, NY), Pearson or Spearman's correlation coefficient was calculated to determine the relationship between children and caregivers' perceptions as well as the relationship between the perceptions and the actual motor performance of the children. Results: Both children (75.6%-94.2%) and their caregivers (69.3%-95.4%) perceived good motor performance of the children during active play. Children (82.8%-96%) and their caregivers (83.2%-94.4%) also regarded active play as very important. Twenty-four additional games were found to be of importance to Ghanaian children and their caregivers. Weak negative, weak positive and sometimes moderate positive correlation between MCQ items and the PERF-FIT items were found. Conclusions: This study shows that we can't rely solely on perceptions, but need actual motor performance, to accurately measure motor performance during active play. We found that parents and children do not accurately estimate the actual level of motor performance. Further studies should be done to understand confounding variables that may have caused poor relationship between perceived and actual motor performance. There is a need for a valid tool like the PERF-FIT to help in accurate measurement of motor performance.

Past research has indicated that motor imagery, or imagined movement, follows Fitts' law similarly to physical movement. Additionally, motor imagery has been shown to improve real motor performance in multiple contexts, showcasing a remarkable connection with real motion. The current study examines how the subject of motor imagery, imagining oneself, another person, or an object, impacts this faithfulness to real movement, specifically in following Fitts' law. Participants viewed 2D photos of a virtual environment with an "X", a humanoid, or a disc facing a gate at 6 distances and 4 widths for 24 combinations. Each combination was repeated twice randomly for 48 trials per condition, and conditions were presented in random order for a total of 144 trials. Results indicate that object-imagery does trigger motor imagery and follow Fitts' law, in contrast to prior research. However, further analysis showed that the function produced in the object condition was significantly different from both self and other, while self and other were not significantly different from one another. This was due to a higher index of performance value in the object condition, implying that participants assigned the object different abilities than the two human-centered conditions. These results indicate a difference related to biological, or perhaps human, motion, and future studies should further explore the impact of the subject and characteristics of the subject on motor imagery. Understanding these intricacies is crucial to refine and understand the benefits of motor imagery seen in multiple motor performance contexts.

Os resultados do desempenho motor (DM) na adolescência podem ser imprecisos quando os fatores de crescimento, idade biológica e idade cronológica (IC) não são considerados. A idade óssea (IO) é reconhecida como um eficiente indicador biológico, assim, a identificação da IO em função do crescimento e o DM resultante foi o objeto de estudo em 233 escolares de 9 a 16 anos de ambos os sexos (fem=109; masc=114). A IO foi determinada por radiografia do punho e mãos e o DM medido em testes de aptidão física. A IO foi maior (0,7 anos) e mais abrangente que a IC, com maiores efeitos no sexo feminino. As moças estavam mais maduras que os rapazes em todas as idades, todavia eles apresentaram maiores médias de DM, estatura, peso corporal e menor valor de gordura. O crescimento foi mais concordante com IO enquanto o DM com IC, sem significância estatística para ambos os sexos. Concluiu-se que ao classificar adolescentes segundo o crescimento, a maturação é indispensável, porém quando o DM está envolvido, as informações de IC e sexo são suficientes. / The results of the motor performance (MP) in adolescence can be inaccurate if the growth factors, biological age and chronological age (CA) are not considered. The bony age (BA) is recognized as an efficient biological indicator, like this, the identification of BA in function of the growth and results upon MP was here the object of study in 233 from 9 to 16 years of both sexes students (femme=109; male=114). BA was determined by x-ray of the wrist and hands, and the MP was measure in physical fitness tests. BA was larger (0.7 years) and including than CA, with larger effects in the female sex. The girls were more mature than boys in all the ages, though they presented larger averages of MP, height, weight and smaller fat value. The growth was more concordant with BA while MP with CA, without statistical significance for both sexes. In conclusion, when classifying adolescents according to the growth, the maturation is indispensable, however when the MP is involved, the information of IC and sex are enough.

This thesis reports on a multi-phased research project conducted to evaluate the use of the Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) approach with adults with stroke. Current approaches to motor recovery, called systems approaches, suggest that movement arises from a dynamic interaction among several different systems, including perception, cognition, and action, all within the context of the individual and his or her environment. CO-OP is an established treatment approach for children with motor-based performance problems that takes into account interactions among several systems, as well as individual needs and environmental factors. CO-OP is a client-centred, problem solving approach based on the theoretical foundations of learning and motor learning theory. The objectives of this project were: to examine the efficacy of CO-OP to improve motor skill acquisition and performance in adults living with chronic stroke; to explore other benefits of the approach; and to identify adaptations for use with adults with stroke. Two series of single case experimental studies were conducted, with three participants completing each. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted. Findings from the single case experiments provide evidence that CO-OP is associated with performance improvements in both trained and untrained self-selected goals in adults more than one year post stroke. As well, pre-post measures suggest there may be changes in performance satisfaction, motor control, generalized use of the affected upper extremity, and self-efficacy. Interview findings provided valuable information about the experiences of participants with the approach; the interview respondents enjoyed the increased sense of responsibility that came with problem solving on their own, but expressed a desire to have ongoing professional support. Suggestions for modifications to CO-OP for use adults with stroke are made. CO-OP is a promising approach to improve functional independence in adults with stroke. Future research is warranted.