Background:
Despite a shared purpose of improving functional capacity, the principles of progressive resistance training (PRT) and balance and motor control training (BMCT) are fundamentally ...different.
Objectives:
To investigate the effects of PRT and BMCT on gait performance and fatigue impact in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS).
Methods:
A multi-center, single-blinded, cluster-randomized controlled trial with two intervention groups (PRT and BMCT) and a control group (CON). The interventions lasted 10 weeks. A total of 71 participants with impaired mobility (Timed 25-Foot Walk (T25FW) > 5 seconds or Six Spot Step Test (SSST) > 8 seconds) were enrolled. Primary outcomes were the T25FW and the SSST. Fatigue impact, self-perceived gait function, 6-minute walk, balance, and muscle strength were secondary outcomes.
Results:
In total, 83% completed the study. The primary comparisons showed that BMCT, but not PRT, improved T25FW, SSST, and self-perceived gait function when compared to CON. Secondary comparisons showed that BMCT improved SSST more than PRT, while T25FW did not differ. Both BMCT and PRT reduced the fatigue impact. Finally, the effect of BMCT was superior to PRT on dynamic balance, while PRT was superior to BMCT on knee extensor muscle strength.
Conclusion:
BMCT, but not PRT, was superior to CON in improving gait performance, while both BMCT and PRT reduced fatigue.
After immobilization, patients show impaired postural control and increased risk of falling. Therefore, loss of balance control should already be counteracted during immobilization. Previously, ...studies have demonstrated that both motor imagery (MI) and action observation (AO) can improve motor performance. The current study elaborated how the brain is activated during imagination and observation of different postural tasks to provide recommendations about the conception of non-physical balance training. For this purpose, participants were tested in a within-subject design in an fMRI-scanner in three different conditions: (a) AO + MI, (b) AO, and (c) MI. In (a) participants were instructed to imagine themselves as the person pictured in the video whereas in (b) they were instructed simply to watch the video. In (c) subjects closed their eyes and kinesthetically imagined the task displayed in the video. Two tasks were evaluated in each condition: (i) static standing balance and (ii) dynamic standing balance (medio-lateral perturbation). In all conditions the start of a new trial was indicated every 2 sec by a sound.
During AO + MI of the dynamic task, participants activated motor centers including the putamen, cerebellum, supplementary motor area, premotor cortices (PMv/d) and primary motor cortex (M1). MI showed a similar pattern but no activity in M1 and PMv/d. In the SMA and cerebellum, activity was generally higher in the dynamic than in the static condition. AO did not significantly activate any of these brain areas.
Our results showed that (I) mainly AO + MI, but also MI, activate brain regions important for balance control; (II) participants display higher levels of brain activation in the more demanding balance task; (III) there is a significant difference between AO + MI and AO. Consequently, best training effects should be expected when participants apply MI during AO (AO + MI) of challenging postural tasks.
Static and dynamic balance abilities enable simple and complex movements and are determinants of top athletic performance. Balance abilities and their proficiency differ fundamentally with respect to ...age, gender, type of balance intervention, and type of sport. With this study, we aim to investigate whether 4weeks of dynamic balance training (DBT) improves static balance performance in school-aged gymnasts and football players. For this purpose, young male gymnasts (
n
=21) and male football players (
n
=20) completed an initial static balance assessment consisting of two one-legged stance (left and right foot) and two two-legged stance (eyes open and eyes closed) tasks. Subsequently, all participants underwent a 4-week intervention. DBT consisting of nine individual tasks was performed two times per week. Another static balance assessment followed 1day after the last training session and retention was assessed 2weeks later. Dynamic balance scores and total path length were analyzed
via
rank-based repeated measures designs using ANOVA-type statistics. The influence of factors GROUP and TIME on the static and dynamic balance performance was examined. Prior to DBT, young gymnasts showed better static balance performance than football players. However, after intervention, both groups improved in both one-legged stance tasks and also had high retention rates in these tasks. No significant improvements were seen in either group in the two-legged balance tests. Both groups improved in the dynamic balance tasks, although no differences in learning rates were evident. Our findings imply an inter-relationship between both static and dynamic balance components. Consequently, training regimes should include both balance components to facilitate early development of balance ability.
Martial arts training focuses on whole-body movement patterning, philosophy, interpersonal interactions, and functional self-defense. Such training has positive impacts on physical, psychological, ...and cognitive well-being in older adults and children with and without clinical conditions. We hypothesize that martial arts training can be delivered as a form of exercise therapy for people at all ages to enhance overall health.
The study aimed to compare the effectiveness of 12-weeks dance training with balance training on fall risk, physical and cognitive functions. The study's second aim was to evaluate the association ...between physical and cognitive functions with circulating markers of neurodegeneration and cognitive impairments in elders.
30 older women (aged 73.3 ± 4.5) were randomly assigned into three groups: balance training (BG), dance training (DG) and control group (CG). To assess the study aims Time up and go test (TUG), 6 minute walk test (6MWT), determination test (DT), blood amyloid precursor protein (APP) and serotonin concentration were performed.
The results showed an improvement in 6MWT (p = 0.0001 for DG and BD), walking speed (p = 0.0001 for DG and BG) and TUG, only for DG (p = 0.0013). The number of correct responses in DT increased in both groups (p = 0.014 and p = 0.005, for DG and BG, respectively). In DG the increase in the total number of reactions was observed (p = 0.013). The improvement in cognitive and physical functions was associated with an increase in APP (p = 0.036 and p = 0.014) and a decrease in serotonin concentrations (p = 0.042 and p = 0.049), respectively in DG and BG.
Dance training intervention could have more benefits on elders' physical and cognitive functions. However, both trainings may be important factors modifying the concentration of circulating proteins associated with neurodegenerative and cognitive disorders.
•Dance and balance trainings contribute effectively to healthy aging.•Dance training has more benefits on older womens' physical and cognitive functions.•Blood serotonin and APP as potential biomarkers of elders performance and cognition
Evidence-based prescriptions for balance training in youth have recently been established. However, there is currently no standardized means available to assess and quantify balance task difficulty ...(BTD). Therefore, the objectives of this study were to examine the effects of graded BTD on postural sway, lower limb muscle activity and coactivation in adolescents. Thirteen healthy high-school students aged 16 to 17 volunteered to participate in this cross-sectional study. Testing involved participants to stand on a commercially available balance board with an adjustable pivot that allowed six levels of increasing task difficulty. Postural sway i.e., total center of pressure (CoP) displacements and lower limb muscle activity were recorded simultaneously during each trial. Surface electromyography (EMG) was applied in muscles encompassing the ankle (m. tibialis anterior, medial gastrocnemius, peroneus longus) and knee joint (m. vastus medialis, biceps femoris). The coactivation index (CAI) was calculated for ankle and thigh muscles. Repeated measures analyses of variance revealed a significant main effect of BTD with increasing task difficulty for postural sway (
p
< 0.001;
d
= 6.36), muscle activity (
p
< 0.001; 2.19 <
d
< 4.88), and CAI (
p
< 0.001; 1.32 <
d
< 1.41). Multiple regression analyses showed that m. tibialis anterior activity best explained overall CoP displacements with 32.5% explained variance (
p
< 0.001). The observed increases in postural sway, lower limb muscle activity, and coactivation indicate increasing postural demands while standing on the balance board. Thus, the examined board can be implemented in balance training to progressively increase BTD in healthy adolescents.
Falls risk is elevated in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, there is a lack of evidence regarding the contributing factors. Here, we examined the feasibility of, and initial ...responses to, large walking perturbations in COPD, as well as the adaptation potential of people with COPD to repeated walking perturbations that might indicate potential for perturbation-based balance training in COPD.
12 participants with COPD undergoing inpatient pulmonary rehabilitation and 12 age-gender-matched healthy control participants walked on an instrumented treadmill and experienced repeated treadmill-belt acceleration perturbations (leading to a forward balance loss). Three-dimensional motion capture was used to quantify the stability of participants body position during perturbed walking. Feasibility, stability following the initial perturbations and adaptation to repeated perturbations were assessed.
Using perturbations in this manner was feasible in this population (no harness assists and participants completed the minimum number of perturbations). No clear, specific deficit in reactive walking stability in COPD was found (no significant effects of participant group on stability or recovery step outcomes). There were mixed results for the adaptability outcomes which overall indicated some adaptability to repeated perturbations, but not to the same extent as the healthy control participants.
Treadmill-based perturbations during walking are feasible in COPD. COPD does not appear to result in significant deficits in stability following sudden perturbations and patients do demonstrate some adaptability to repeated perturbations. Perturbation-based balance training may be considered for fall prevention in research and practice in people with COPD.
•Treadmill-based gait perturbations are feasible in people with COPD.•People with COPD do not show large deficits in reactive gait stability.•People with COPD demonstrate some but reduced adaptability to perturbations.•Perturbation-based balance training may be considered for people with COPD.
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