Learning readiness is deficient in many first time school-going children. Learning readiness depends on a well-functioning neural network. Research has shown that movement as an early learning experience is necessary for optimal neural development. Presumably it is movement that activates the neural wiring in the brain. It influences neural organisation and stimulates the specific neurological systems required for optimal functioning and development of the brain. Some children are faced with motor proficiency deficits which may influence their learning and their readiness to learn. This study aimed at determining whether movement programmes are a means to promote and achieve learning readiness. A selected group of Grade two learners who participated in a specifically designed movement programme for ten weeks showed improvement in their levels of learning readiness based on their movement proficiency and academic level. Based on these findings, recommendations were made for the inclusion of movement in the school curriculum. / Educational Studies / M Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:22:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-07-18Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:29:17Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 toledo_dr_me_rcla.pdf: 1180963 bytes, checksum: 1b7f7f71b036e62aaab6c4903057aae6 (MD5) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / O avanço da idade vem acompanhado de muitas alterações estruturais, funcionais e comportamentais. Como um bom desempenho do controle postural depende da integridade dos sistemas sensoriais e motor, as deteriorações que ocorrem nestes sistemas com o envelhecimento poderiam influenciar o desempenho de controle postural em indivíduos idosos. Entretanto, ainda não estão claras quais alterações funcionais nos sistemas sensoriais e motor são provocadas pelo envelhecimento por si só, bem como a relação entre estas alterações e as mudanças no desempenho de controle postural de adultos idosos. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o desempenho dos sistemas sensoriais e motor e do controle postural de adultos idosos e investigar a relação entre as alterações destes sistemas e o controle postural desta população. Vinte adultos idosos (68,9±3,7 anos) (GAI) e 20 adultos jovens (21,9±2,1 anos) (GAJ) foram submetidos a avaliações sensoriais, motoras e de controle portural. As avaliações sensoriais foram compostas por avaliação visual (acuidade e sensibilidade ao contraste) e somatossensorial (sensibilidade cutânea e sensibilidade ao movimento passivo). As avaliações motoras consistiram de medidas de torque articular e de latência de ativação muscular após perturbação da superfície de suporte. As avaliações de controle postural consistiram de medidas de oscilação corporal durante manutenção da postura ereta (em semi-tandem stance), resolução de conflito sensorial (movimentação discreta de uma sala móvel) e acoplamento entre informação visual e oscilação corporal (movimentação periódica,... / With aging, individuals exhibit several structural, functional and behavioral changes. As a good postural control performance depends on the integrity of the sensory and motor systems, deterioration of these systems occurring with aging could influence the postural control performance of older adults. However, it is still unclear which sensory and motor functional changes are due to aging per se, neither the relationship between these changes and the changes of the performance of postural control in older adults. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the performance of the sensory and motor systems and postural control in older adults and to investigate the relationship between changes in these systems and postural control in this population. Twenty older adults (68,9±3,7 years) (GAI) and 20 young adults (21,9±2,1 years) (GAJ) were submitted to sensory, motor and postural control assessments. Sensory assessments were composed of visual (acuity and contrast sensitivity) and somatosensory assessments (tactile sensitivity of and sensitivity to passive motion). Motor assessments consisted of measurements of joint torque and muscular activity latency after displacement of support surface. Postural control assessments consisted of measuring the body oscillation during maintenance of the upright stance (semi-tandem stance), the resolution of a sensory conflict (discrete movement of a moving room) and the coupling between visual information...(Complete abastract, click electronic access below)

Orientador: José Ângelo Barela / Banca: Eliane Mauerberg de Castro / Banca: Renato de Moraes / Banca: Paulo Barbosa de Freitas Junior / Banca: Paula Hentschel Lobo da Costa / Resumo: O envelhecimento, associado ao sedentarismo vem acompanhado de muitas alterações estruturais, funcionais e comportamentais. O controle postural depende da integridade dos sistemas sensoriais e motor e, portanto, as deteriorações que ocorrem nestes sistemas com a ausência de um estilo de vida saudável, podem influenciar o desempenho de controle postural. Entretanto, ainda não estão claras quais alterações funcionais nos sistemas sensoriais e motor podem ser promovidas pela pratica de exercícios físicos, bem como a relação entre estas alterações e as mudanças no desempenho de controle postural de adultos idosos. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo foi examinar os efeitos de um programa de atividade física no controle postural e componentes de capacidade funcional de idosos, abordando aspectos sensoriais, motores e o relacionamento entre ambos. Treze adultos idosos com idade entre 60 e 70 anos foram submetidos a avaliações sensoriais, motoras, de controle postural e capacidade funcional antes e após a participação em um programa de exercícios físicos generalizado. As avaliações sensoriais foram compostas por avaliação visual (acuidade e sensibilidade ao contraste) e somatossensorial (sensibilidade cutânea e sensibilidade ao movimento passivo). As avaliações motoras consistiram de medidas de torque articular e de latência de ativação muscular após perturbação da superfície de suporte. As avaliações de controle postural consistiram de medidas de oscilação corporal durante manutenção da postura ereta (em semitandem stance) e para capacidade funcional foi aplicada a bateria da AAHPERD, Os resultados indicaram que o programa de exercícios proposto influenciou positivamente as capacidades de agilidade, força e capacidade aeróbia e, ainda, a capacidade de produzir torque e latência muscular. Estes resultados indicam que o aumento causado na força muscular... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Aging and a sedentary life style exhibit several structural, functional and behavioral changes. A good postural control performance depends on the integrity of the sensory and motor systems, deterioration of these systems occurring with aging could influence the postural control performance, specifically in older adults that are more susceptible to falls. However, it is still unclear which sensory and motor functional changes can be affected by a physical fitness program, neither the relationship between these changes and the changes of the performance of postural control in older adults. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a exercise training program in the performance of the sensory and motor systems and postural control in older adults and to investigate the relationship between changes in these systems and postural control in this population. Thirteen older adults with age from 60 to 70 years old were submitted to sensory, motor and postural control assessments. Sensory assessments were composed of visual (acuity and contrast sensitivity) and somatosensory assessments (tactile sensitivity of and sensitivity to passive motion). Motor assessments consisted of measurements of joint torque and muscular activity latency after displacement of support surface. Postural control assessments consisted of measuring the body oscillation during maintenance of the upright stance (semi-tandem stance) and de functional capacity where measured by the Functional fitness tests of AAHPERD. The results indicated that the training program improved de agility, strength and aerobic capacity of the functional capacity, the torque capacity and a reduction of the muscular latency. The absence of training effects on the postural control can indicate that the processing of sensory information can be more weight on de stand stance than the physical capabilities. The present study shows...(Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

L'exécution d'un simple mouvement est associée à des modulations complexes de l'activité oscillatoire du cerveau. Toutefois, notre compréhension du rôle spécifique des composantes de phase, d'amplitude ou de couplage phase-amplitude (PAC) durant la préparation et l'exécution motrice est encore partielle. La première partie de cette thèse traite de cette question en analysant des données d'EEG intracrânien obtenues chez des sujets épileptiques effectuant une tâche center out différée. Les outils d'apprentissage machine ont permis d'identifier des marqueurs neuronaux propres aux états moteur ou aux directions de mouvement. En plus du rôle déjà bien connu de la puissance spectrale, cette approche dictée par les données (data-driven) a identifié une implication importante de la composante de phase basse fréquence ainsi que du PAC dans les processus neuronaux de la préparation et de l'exécution motrice. En plus de cet apport empirique, une importante partie de ce travail de thèse a consisté à implémenter des outils d'analyse et de visualisation de données électrophysiologiques. Plusieurs utilitaires ont été conçus spécifiquement : une toolbox dédiée à l'extraction et à la classification de marqueurs neuronaux (Brainpipe), des outils de calcul de PAC modulaire basé sur des tenseurs (Tensorpac) ainsi qu'un ensemble d'interfaces graphiques dédiées à la visualisation de données cérébrales (Visbrain). Ces recherches auront permis de mieux comprendre le rôle des oscillations neuronales lors de comportements dirigés et met également à disposition un ensemble d'outils efficaces et libres permettant à la communauté scientifique de répliquer et d'étendre ces recherches / The execution of a motor task is associated with complex patterns of oscillatory modulations in the brain. However, the specific role of oscillatory phase, amplitude and phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) across the planning and execution stages of goal-directed motor behavior is still not yet fully understood. The aim of the first part of this PhD thesis was to address this question by analyzing intracranial EEG data recorded in epilepsy patients during the performance of a delayed center-out task. Using machine learning, we identified functionally relevant oscillatory features via their accuracy in predicting motor states and movement directions. In addition to the established role of oscillatory power, our data-driven approach revealed the prominent role of low-frequency phase as well as significant involvement of PAC in the neuronal underpinnings of motor planning and execution. In parallel to this empirical research, an important portion of this PhD work was dedicated to the development of efficient tools to analyze and visualize electrophysiological brain data. These packages include a feature extraction and classification toolbox (Brainpipe), modular and tensor-based PAC computation tools (Tensorpac) and a versatile brain data visualization GUI (Visbrain). Taken together, this body of research advances our understanding of the role of brain oscillations in goal-directed behavior, and provides efficient open-source packages for the scientific community to replicate and extend this research

A recent trend in evolutionary robotics and artificial life research is to maximize self-organization in the design of robotic systems, in particular using artificial evolutionary techniques, in order to reduce the human designer bias. This dissertation presents experiments in competitive co-evolutionary robotics that integrate and extend previous work on competitive co-evolution of neural robot controllers in a predator-prey scenario with work on the ‘co-evolution’ of robot morphology and control systems. The focus here is on a systematic investigation of tradeoffs and interdependencies between morphological parameters and behavioral strategies through a series of predator-prey experiments in which increasingly many aspects are subject to self-organization through competitive co-evolution. The results show that there is a strong interdependency between morphological parameters and behavioral strategies evolved, and that the competitive co-evolutionary process was able to find a balance between and within these two aspects. It is therefore concluded that competitive co-evolution has great potential as a method for the automatic design of robotic systems.

Cette thèse s'est intéressée à l'impact des interactions sociales sur l'acitivité motrice, à la fois au niveau comportempentale et cérébral et de caractériser cette modulation au cours d'actions simultanées et d'actions conjointes. Dans un premier temps, nous avons étudié les effets de l'observation d'une activation sur l'exécution motrice. En couplant analyse cinématique et enregistrement EEG, nous avons mis en évidence que l'activation du système des neurones miroirs facilitait l'action seulement lorsque les événements d'exécution et d'observation étaient temporellement coordonnées. Dans un deuxième temps, nous avons cherché à meiux caractériser l'influence du contexte interactif sur l'activité cérébrale de deux participants d'une interaction grâce à une étude en double-EEG et cinématique. Grâce à la comparaison des activités cérébrales motrices intra- et inter-individuelles chez deux participants qui effectuaient ou observaient des actions isolées ou des actions conjointes, nous avons pu mettre en évidence des modulations de l'activité motrice similaires chez les deux particiapnts ainsi que certaines modulations spécifiques à la fois du contexte social (humain vs robot) et du rôle dans l'interaction. L'analyse inter-individuelle a par ailleurs mis en évidence un couplage entre les aires visuelles et motrices des deux particiapnts pendant la condition d'action conjointe. L'ensemble des résultats suggère que le système moteur permet un couplage fin entre les participants d'une interaction, à la fois au travers d'un couplage temporel qui pourrait faciliter l'interaction et également au travers d'une boucle d'action-perception formant une représentation commune de l'action conjointe. / This research investigated the impact of social interaction on motor activity, both ona behavioural and cerebral level. More precisely, the aim of the thesis was to characterise this modulation during simultaneous actions, when two participants interact, jointly or not, and to determine its functions. First , we studied the effect of action observation on motor execution. Coupling kinematics analysis and EEG recording, we gave evidence that the temporal time course of motor system activation was crucial for motor interference. We found that motor performances were facilitated by the observation of an action, only when execution and observation events were temporally coordinated. Second, we sought to characterise the influence of an interactive context on brain activity of two interacting participants through the coupling of dual-EEG and kinematic recordings. Thanks to the comparison of intra- and inter-individual brain activity of two participants that observed or performed individual or joint actions, we were able to highlight modulations of cerebral motor activity common in both participants as well as modulations of brain activity specific to the social context (human vs robot) and the role in the interaction (actor vs observer). Moreover, the inter-individual analysis revealed a coupling between the two participants' visual and motor brain areas during the joint action condition. Taken toghther, these results suggest that the motor system allows a tight coupling between interacting participants, mediated by temporal coupling that could facilitate the interaction and through an action-perception loop forming a common motor representation of the joint action.

[pt] Esta dissertação apresenta o estudo para o desenvolvimento de um powertrain elétrico com motorização independente na massa não suspensa do veículo, acoplado diretamente nas rodas In Wheel ou Hub-Motor . O desenvolvimento do sistema proposto visa à maximização da eficiência dos veículos elétricos pela minimização das perdas relacionadas a sistemas mecânicos, como na transmissão convencional utilizada em veículos com motorização única. Outro fator motivador para o desenvolvimento do powertrain com motorização independente é a aplicação de controles independentes para cada roda, possibilitando desenvolver e aplicar uma gama de controles no veículo, os quais com a motorização única não são possíveis ou possuem desempenho não satisfatório. O trabalho apresenta uma visão geral sobre os veículos elétricos, o estudo do comportamento dinâmico vertical com o aumento da massa não suspensa do veículo, desenvolvimento de um controle de velocidade para o powertrain proposto, desenvolvimento de um controle de frenagem ABS elétrico, simulação do sistema em ciclos de direção com o cálculo da eficiência energética do powertrain, e um experimento em um dinamômetro de bancada para validação da eficiência energética dos ciclos simulados. / [en] This paper presents a study for the development of an electric powertrain with independent engines in the vehicle mass not suspended, directly coupled to the wheels In Wheel or Hub-Motor . The development of the proposed system aims at maximizing the efficiency of electric vehicles by minimizing losses related to mechanical systems, as in conventional transmission used in vehicles with single engine. Another motivating factor for the development of powertrain with independent engines is the application of independent controls for each wheel, allowing for the development and application of a range of controls in the vehicle, which would not be possible or would have unsatisfactory performance if a single engine was used. This work presents an overview of electric vehicles, the study of the dynamic vertical behavior with increasing mass of the suspended vehicle, development of a speed control for the proposed powertrain, development of an electric ABS braking control, system simulation toward cycles to calculate the energy efficiency of the powertrain, and an experiment on a bench dynamometer to validate the energy efficiency of simulated cycles.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:30:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-10-27Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:00:59Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 lopes_ag_dr_rcla.pdf: 2903807 bytes, checksum: 228b34baf835343d3246b38b7c81d87c (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O envelhecimento, associado ao sedentarismo vem acompanhado de muitas alterações estruturais, funcionais e comportamentais. O controle postural depende da integridade dos sistemas sensoriais e motor e, portanto, as deteriorações que ocorrem nestes sistemas com a ausência de um estilo de vida saudável, podem influenciar o desempenho de controle postural. Entretanto, ainda não estão claras quais alterações funcionais nos sistemas sensoriais e motor podem ser promovidas pela pratica de exercícios físicos, bem como a relação entre estas alterações e as mudanças no desempenho de controle postural de adultos idosos. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo foi examinar os efeitos de um programa de atividade física no controle postural e componentes de capacidade funcional de idosos, abordando aspectos sensoriais, motores e o relacionamento entre ambos. Treze adultos idosos com idade entre 60 e 70 anos foram submetidos a avaliações sensoriais, motoras, de controle postural e capacidade funcional antes e após a participação em um programa de exercícios físicos generalizado. As avaliações sensoriais foram compostas por avaliação visual (acuidade e sensibilidade ao contraste) e somatossensorial (sensibilidade cutânea e sensibilidade ao movimento passivo). As avaliações motoras consistiram de medidas de torque articular e de latência de ativação muscular após perturbação da superfície de suporte. As avaliações de controle postural consistiram de medidas de oscilação corporal durante manutenção da postura ereta (em semitandem stance) e para capacidade funcional foi aplicada a bateria da AAHPERD, Os resultados indicaram que o programa de exercícios proposto influenciou positivamente as capacidades de agilidade, força e capacidade aeróbia e, ainda, a capacidade de produzir torque e latência muscular. Estes resultados indicam que o aumento causado na força muscular... / Aging and a sedentary life style exhibit several structural, functional and behavioral changes. A good postural control performance depends on the integrity of the sensory and motor systems, deterioration of these systems occurring with aging could influence the postural control performance, specifically in older adults that are more susceptible to falls. However, it is still unclear which sensory and motor functional changes can be affected by a physical fitness program, neither the relationship between these changes and the changes of the performance of postural control in older adults. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a exercise training program in the performance of the sensory and motor systems and postural control in older adults and to investigate the relationship between changes in these systems and postural control in this population. Thirteen older adults with age from 60 to 70 years old were submitted to sensory, motor and postural control assessments. Sensory assessments were composed of visual (acuity and contrast sensitivity) and somatosensory assessments (tactile sensitivity of and sensitivity to passive motion). Motor assessments consisted of measurements of joint torque and muscular activity latency after displacement of support surface. Postural control assessments consisted of measuring the body oscillation during maintenance of the upright stance (semi-tandem stance) and de functional capacity where measured by the Functional fitness tests of AAHPERD. The results indicated that the training program improved de agility, strength and aerobic capacity of the functional capacity, the torque capacity and a reduction of the muscular latency. The absence of training effects on the postural control can indicate that the processing of sensory information can be more weight on de stand stance than the physical capabilities. The present study shows...(Complete abstract click electronic access below)

There is a significant comorbidity between anxiety/depression and functional gastrointestinal syndromes, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional dyspepsia. The pathophysiological link between emotions and the gut is not known. A model of an emotional motor system (EMS) which reacts to interoceptive and exteroceptive stress has been proposed. EMS consists of specific brain structures including anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), amygdala, hippocampus and hypothalamus and mediates their communication to the rest of the body (including the gastrointestinal tract) through the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and by a pain modulation system. The aim of this thesis was to test the EMS model by studying the relationship between symptoms of anxiety and depression and IBS-like symptoms in patients with recurrent unipolar depression, in patients with IBS and in a sample of a normal Swedish population. The peripheral limb of EMS (ANS, HPA axis and the pain modulations system) was tested in patients with IBS and control subjects. Spectral heart rate variability was used to investigate ANS function in patients with refractory IBS and in healthy controls. The HPA axis function was tested by a weight adjusted low dose dexamethasone suppression test in control subjects. The influence of catecholamine degradation on pain modulation was tested by analyzing val158met catechol-o-methyl transferase (COMT) polymorphism in patients with IBS and in control subjects. We found a significant relationship between symptoms of anxiety/depression and IBS-like symptoms in patients with recurrent unipolar depression, in patients with IBS and in a sample of the normal population. Interestingly, patients with recurrent unipolar depression in remission had no more IBS-like symptoms than controls, indicating that the gastrointestinal symptoms may resolve when depression is treated to remission. Patients with IBS have an increased mid-frequency power in rest and in supine position (after tilt test) compared to healthy controls indicating an increased sympathetic ANS drive. The symptoms of diarrhea and early satiety has in the litterature been associated to the stimulation of corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) receptors and was also in our study related to HPA axis function tested by a low dose dexamethasone test. Interestingly both hypo- and hyperfunction of the HPA axis was related to these symptoms in control subjects. The val158met COMT polymorphism was associated to IBS-like symptoms. Control subjects with IBS-like symptoms (defined by the upper quartile in total GSRS-IBS score) had a higher frequency of the met/met and a significantly lower frequency of the val/met genotype. Also patients with IBS tended to have a lower frequency of the heterozygous val/met genotype so we conclude that this genotype may be protective against IBS/IBS like symptoms. In addition, the val/val genotype in patients with IBS was associated to diarrhea symptoms. Conclusions: Our results support the model of an emotional motor system in the genesis of functional gastrointestinal symptoms by the finding of the association of IBS-like symptoms and mood disturbances, and by finding alterations in the peripheral limbs of EMS (ANS, HPA axis and catecholamines) in subjects with IBS and IBS-like symptoms.

No description available.