Abstract
Background
Muscle synergies, computationally identified intermuscular coordination patterns, have been utilized to characterize neuromuscular control and learning in humans. However, it is ...unclear whether it is possible to alter the existing muscle synergies or develop new ones in an intended way through a relatively short-term motor exercise in adulthood. This study aimed to test the feasibility of expanding the repertoire of intermuscular coordination patterns through an isometric, electromyographic (EMG) signal-guided exercise in the upper extremity (UE) of neurologically intact individuals.
Methods
10 participants were trained for six weeks to induce independent control of activating a pair of elbow flexor muscles that tended to be naturally co-activated in force generation. An untrained isometric force generation task was performed to assess the effect of the training on the intermuscular coordination of the trained UE. We applied a non-negative matrix factorization on the EMG signals recorded from 12 major UE muscles during the assessment to identify the muscle synergies. In addition, the performance of training tasks and the characteristics of individual muscles’ activity in both time and frequency domains were quantified as the training outcomes.
Results
Typically, in two weeks of the training, participants could use newly developed muscle synergies when requested to perform new, untrained motor tasks by activating their UE muscles in the trained way. Meanwhile, their habitually expressed muscle synergies, the synergistic muscle activation groups that were used before the training, were conserved throughout the entire training period. The number of muscle synergies activated for the task performance remained the same. As the new muscle synergies were developed, the neuromotor control of the trained muscles reflected in the metrics, such as the ratio between the targeted muscles, number of matched targets, and task completion time, was improved.
Conclusion
These findings suggest that our protocol can increase the repertoire of readily available muscle synergies and improve motor control by developing the activation of new muscle coordination patterns in healthy adults within a relatively short period. Furthermore, the study shows the potential of the isometric EMG-guided protocol as a neurorehabilitation tool for aiming motor deficits induced by abnormal intermuscular coordination after neurological disorders.
Trial registration
This study was registered at the Clinical Research Information Service (CRiS) of the Korea National Institute of Health (KCT0005803) on 1/22/2021.
: Limited research exists regarding physical therapy management for patients with cervical dystonia (CD). The purpose of this case report is to describe the clinical management of a patient with CD ...using manual techniques, cervical traction, and laser-guided postural reeducation.
: The patient was a 75-year-old female with CD, diagnosed 40 years prior, with a 10-year history of botulinum neurotoxin injections. She reported a 1-year history of worsening neck pain and cervical range of motion loss which was significantly affecting her ability to sleep and drive. The patient was seen for 12 visits over a 6-week period.
: Discharge scores indicated marked improvements in active range of motion, neck disability index, and the CDIP-58 questionnaire. Improvement in motor control as measured during the SenMorCor™ Laser Functional Error Assessment was demonstrated in the motions of "looking right" (53%) and up (48%).
: This case report indicates that a physical therapy program consisting of a daily laser-guided home program for head postural reeducation in conjunction with classic physical therapy techniques may be an option for patients with CD; however, further research is needed prior to adoption of these techniques as standard of care for patients with CD.
Background and Purpose: Limited research exists regarding physical therapy management for patients with cervical dystonia (CD). The purpose of this case report is to describe the clinical management ...of a patient with CD using manual techniques, cervical traction, and laser-guided postural reeducation. Case Description: The patient was a 75-year-old female with CD, diagnosed 40 years prior, with a 10-year history of botulinum neurotoxin injections. She reported a 1-year history of worsening neck pain and cervical range of motion loss which was significantly affecting her ability to sleep and drive. The patient was seen for 12 visits over a 6-week period. Outcomes: Discharge scores indicated marked improvements in active range of motion, neck disability index, and the CDIP-58 questionnaire. Improvement in motor control as measured during the SenMorCor™ Laser Functional Error Assessment was demonstrated in the motions of "looking right" (53%) and up (48%). Discussion: This case report indicates that a physical therapy program consisting of a daily laser-guided home program for head postural reeducation in conjunction with classic physical therapy techniques may be an option for patients with CD; however, further research is needed prior to adoption of these techniques as standard of care for patients with CD.
Nowadays engineers are constantly dealing with more complex problems, uncertainty, incomplete data, and demands of customers, governments, environmentalists, and public. This requires technical ...skills as well as skills in human relations. So, during their academic background it is necessary to incorporate more skills, social and technological, into their base knowledge. This can be accomplished introducing Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Higher Education (HE). Several studies show that the use of ICT in teaching promotes participation, engagement, collaboration, and student interaction, making them more active participants and responsible for their learning. In addition to these advantages, ICT allow to give equal importance to learning processes and to the contents, as the activities offered by ICT allow to the students develop communication skills, teamwork, finding and evaluating information, access, and manipulation of large amounts of data, work with other technologies, update and refine existing skills and knowledge. It was in this context that Guided Exercises emerged. A Guided Exercise permits students to relate models and help them to solve a complex exercise step by step. This strategy was used in two consecutive courses of an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering, Soil Mechanics I and Soil Mechanics II at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. The results show that students considered the strategy useful for the understanding of the concepts covered in the course. Analysing the students’ academic performance, it can be concluded that those who used this methodology had a better approval ratio. This paper presents data to support these statements.
Objective: To determine changes in functional fitness of older adults following 10 years of peer-instructed community-based exercise program participation. Subjects: Eighteen participants (65.6±8.3 ...yr) were assessed at pre-intervention (T1), post-12 weeks (T2), and post-10 years (T3). Method: General physical parameters, functional strength (Arm Curl AC, Chair Stand CS), flexibility (Back Scratch BS, Sit & Reach SR), balance (functional reach FR), agility (Up & Go UG), and endurance (12-min walk 12-MW) were measured. After completion of an initial 12-wk of professionally-supervised community-based exercises (aerobic, resistance, flexibility and balance), the participants continued the exercises under the guidance of similarly-aged peer-instructors for the next 10 years which consisted of 10 min of warm-up, 30 min of elastic band-based resistance exercise, 10 min of balance exercise and 10 min of cool-down exercises (excluding any formal aerobic exercises), twice a week at a local community center. Results: Changes in AC (−3.0%), CS (−5.8%), SR (+7.1%), BS (−49.3%) and UG (−36.2%) over 10 years were not significant (P>0.05). However, a significant (P<0.05) decline was noted in 12-MW (−18.8%) and FR (−22.7%) over 10 years. Conclusion: Peer-instructed community-based exercises are useful in attenuating the age-associated decline in muscular strength, flexibility, and agility over an extended period of time.
PDF