View clinical trials related to Motor Activity.
Filter by:Less than 50% of stroke survivors progress to independent community ambulation. Even among the stroke survivors who achieve independent ambulation, significant residual deficits persist in balance and gait speed, with 60% of persons post-stroke reporting limitations in mobility related to walking.Consequently maximizing recovery of locomotor function is the focus of neurorehabilitation efforts worldwide. A recently completed clinical trial from members of this investigative team demonstrated that 6 weeks of treadmill training elicits substantial improvements in over ground walking speed and symmetry in persons following stroke. Consistent with the goals of the South Carolina Stroke Rehabilitation Research Center (SCSRRC) and NIH Brain Initiative, the investigators now plan to investigate the effects treadmill-assisted gait training have on cortical control of bipedal movement in chronic stroke patients. Although previous investigators have assessed neural activity during simulated walking using motor imagery, motor imagery does not simulate the typical sensory feedback associated with active movement. To move the field forward, it is necessary to measure active bipedal movement in the MR-environment in healthy volunteers, before moving forward in stroke patients.
In a recent publication by Gamboa et al. 20108 it was shown that extended theta-burst stimulation duration might have reverse effects on cortical excitability when compared to the original Huang et al. 2005 publication. While the post treatment effects of the original Huang et al. 2005 protocol were successfully replicated, when continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) protocols were doubled to 1200 pulses over 80 seconds and the iTBS protocols were doubled to 1200 pulses over 390 seconds, there was increased facilitation after the prolonged cTBS and decreased excitability after prolonged iTBS. Currently there is an interest in optimizing repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) protocols and in particular theta burst stimulation as both a therapeutic and an investigational tool. In Hanlon et al. 2015, a novel theta burst paradigm is described in which two trains of 1800 pulses of cTBS were administered, each train separated by a one-minute interval. In this study 11-cocaine dependent individuals underwent cTBS over the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and showed attenuated craving as well as decreases in activity of the striatum and anterior insula. This study aims to replicate the findings of the Gamboa and Huang protocols as well as investigate how novel theta burst stimulation paradigms such as those described in Hanlon et al. 2015, which are currently being explored as therapeutic methods in addiction may change cortical excitability.
The supraclavicular brachial plexus block is widely used in upper limb surgery below the shoulder. However, this can easily lead to long-term motor nerve blockage, Horner's syndrome, phrenic nerve paralysis or systemic poisoning, and even serious side effects such as cardiac arrest. Dexamethasone is a synthetic corticosteroid and becoming more common to use steroids as an adjunct to local anesthetics in brachial plexus block. In order to reduce the incidence of long-acting topical anesthetics from the nerve block in the supraclavicular arm, reducing the local anesthetic concentration is a feasible method, but this will also result in a shorter time to neurological block. The investigators hypothesized that the addition of Dexamethasone 5 mg to low concentrations (0.25%) of Ropivacaine would prolong postoperative analgesia.Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the postoperative analgesia and the side effects of postoperative supraclavicular brachial plexus blockade with the addition of Dexamethasone 5mg to Ropivacaine (0.5%) alone and Ropivacaine (0.25%) in low concentrations.
The main aim of this study is to describe differences in development of health and motor performance over time in relation to type of school and other background variables.
Specific patterns of PNF have been used in neurological and rheumatologic rehabilitation to improve trunk control and postural stability. However, there are no studies that analyze the effect of pelvic PNF patterns on pelvic floor muscles. We hypothesize that pelvic patterns of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation activate the pelvic floor muscles in healthy individuals through the abdomino-pelvic synergism. Thus, the objective of the study is to analyze the effects of pelvic patterns PNF on the recruitment of pelvic floor muscles in healthy individuals.
Investigating modulation of motor cortex excitability by transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation.
Unlike other European countries, Italian kindergartens do not include the physical education teacher in the school organic personnel. This is frequently associated with the lack of opportunities to perform physical education by preschool children. The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of a specific 16-week-long physical education programme (PEP) of 16-week length on the development of locomotor and object control skills in preschool children.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is an investigational and therapeutic modality that impacts the connection strength between neurons by delivering patterned energy. In response to this patterned energy neurons fire and adapt by changing their connection strengths. This change in connection strengths is believed to be the underlying mechanism whereby this intervention has therapeutic benefit for this intervention in conditions such as depression. The purpose of this study is to test a means of enhancing the effect of rTMS using a medication (cycloserine) that has been shown to augment and stabilize activity dependent neuronal changes. The investigators wish to use the motor system, where the associated muscle response to brain stimulation can be measured, to probe activity dependent changes in connection strength between neurons.
The ability to recognize of being the actors of the behaviour and its consequences, the so-called "Sense of Agency" (SoA), is a crucial component of self-awareness. One key aspect is the distinction from a mere inference about the causality between an act and its consequences and the sense of being the agent of it. Despite a large number of behavioural studies, there is unsatisfactory evidence on the functional anatomical underpinnings of the SoA and the distinction between causality and the SoA proper. Here, the investigators use an implicit measurement of the SoA and its modulations during fMRI: the intentional binding phenomenon (IB). The ivestigators also study how the SoA and the ensuing neurophysiological correlates are modulated by the presence of a movement disorders, such as Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the sensory-motor cortical excitability response to delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) on Extensor Carpi Radialis (ECR) muscle during muscle hyperalgesia provoked by nerve growth factor (NGF).