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Mindy F Levin: Influence Statistics

BACKGROUND: Non-immersive virtual reality is an emerging strategy to enhance motor performance for stroke rehabilitation. There has been rapid adoption of non-immersive virtual reality as a rehabilitation strategy despite the limited evidence about its safety and effectiveness. Our aim was to compare the safety and efficacy of virtual reality with recreational therapy on motor recovery in patients after an acute ischaemic stroke.

METHODS: In this randomised, controlled, single-blind, ...

During postural and locomotor tasks, the orientation of the head with respect to space is maintained in order to serve as an egocentric reference value for maintaining balance. In young children during locomotor tasks, task difficulty determines the coordination of movements between head–trunk segments: the more difficult the task, the more the child limits the head on trunk movement (“en bloc”) rather than letting the head move freely in space. For reaching tasks, however, there are no ...

PURPOSE: It is estimated that 50% to 75% of individuals who experience a stroke have persistent impairment of the affected upper limb (UL). There is a need to identify the best training strategies for retraining motor function of the UL. One intervention showing promise is virtual reality (VR), using either immersive or nonimmersive technology. Before recommending VR for use in clinical practice, it is important to understand the evidence regarding its effectiveness.

METHOD: Two ...

A major prerequisite for successful rehabilitation therapy after stroke is the understanding of the mechanisms underlying motor deficits common to these patients. Studies have shown that in stroke patients multijoint pointing movements are characterized by decreased movement speed and increased movement variability, by increased movement segmentation and by spatial and temporal incoordination between adjacent arm joints with respect to healthy subjects. We studied how the damaged nervous ...

1. We analyzed the rapid adaptation of elbow movement to unexpected changes in external load conditions at the elbow joint. The experimental approach was based on the lambda model, which defines control variables (CVs) setting the positional frames of reference for recruitment of flexor and extensor motoneurons. CVs may be specified by the nervous system independently of the current values of output variable such as electromyographic (EMG) activity, muscle torques, and kinematics. The CV ...

Previous studies have shown that deficits in agonist–antagonist muscle activation in the single-joint elbow system in patients with spastic hemiparesis are directly related to limitations in the range of regulation of the thresholds of muscle activation. We extended these findings to the double-joint, shoulder-elbow system in these patients. Ten non-disabled individuals and 11 stroke survivors with spasticity in upper limb muscles participated. Stroke survivors had sustained a single ...

AIM: The goal of this study was to contribute evidence towards the effectiveness of task-oriented training with and without restriction of trunk movement (trunk restraint) on the quality of upper limb movement in children with cerebral palsy (CP).

METHOD: We used a prospective, single-subject research design in 12 children (three males, nine females; aged 6-11 y; median 9 y) with di-, hemi-, or quadriplegia. Movements of the most affected arm were assessed five times: three times before ...

During pointing movements involving trunk displacement, healthy subjects perform stereotypically, selecting a strategy in which the movement is initiated with either the hand or trunk, and where the trunk continues after the end of the hand movement. In a previous study, such temporal co-ordination was not found in patients with left-hemispheric brain lesions reaching with either their dominant paretic or with their non-dominant non-paretic arm. This co-ordination deficit may be ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In prehension tasks with objects placed within arm's reach, patients with hemiparesis caused by stroke use excessive trunk movement to compensate for arm motor impairments. Compensatory trunk movements may improve motor function in the short term but may limit arm recovery in the long term. Previous studies showed that restriction of trunk movements during reach-to-grasp movements results in immediate increases in active arm joint ranges and improvement in ...

A technique is described that characterizes the dynamics of the interjoint coordination of arm reaching movements in healthy subjects (n=10) and in patients who had sustained a left-sided cerebrovascular accident (n=18). All participants were right-handed. Data from the affected right arm of patients with stroke were compared with those from the right arm of healthy subjects. Seated subjects made 25 pointing movements in a single session. Movements were made from an initial target ...

BACKGROUND: Virtual reality (VR) is an innovative tool for sensorimotor rehabilitation increasingly being employed in clinical and community settings. Despite the growing interest in VR, few studies have determined the validity of movements made in VR environments with respect to real physical environments. The goal of this study was to compare movements done in physical and virtual environments in adults with motor deficits to those in healthy individuals. METHODS: The participants were ...

The effects of short-term, constant practice on the kinematics of a multi-joint pointing movement were studied in the hemiparetic arm of 20 chronic patients with unilateral left cerebro-vascular accident (CVA) and in 10 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals. Practice consisted of a single session of 70 pointing movements made with the right arm. Movements were made from a target located beside the body to one in the contralateral workspace, in front of the body. Vision of the final ...