0000000000006711
AUTHOR
Christos Paizis
Sensorimotor adaptation of point-to-point arm movements after spaceflight: the role of internal representation of gravity force in trajectory planning.
International audience; After an exposure to weightlessness, the central nervous system operates under new dynamic and sensory contexts. To find optimal solutions for rapid adaptation, cosmonauts have to decide whether parameters from the world or their body have changed and to estimate their properties. Here, we investigated sensorimotor adaptation after a spaceflight of 10 days. Five cosmonauts performed forward point-to-point arm movements in the sagittal plane 40 days before and 24 and 72 h after the spaceflight. We found that, whereas the shape of hand velocity profiles remained unaffected after the spaceflight, hand path curvature significantly increased 1 day after landing and return…
Do equilibrium constraints modulate postural reaction when viewing imbalance?
Abstract Action observation and action execution are tightly coupled on a neurophysiological and a behavioral level, such that visually perceiving an action can contaminate simultaneous and subsequent action execution. More specifically, observing a model in postural disequilibrium was shown to induce an increase in observers’ body sway. Here we reciprocally questioned the role of observers’ motor system in the contagion process by comparing participants’ body sway when watching displays of antero-posterior vs. lateral imbalance. Indeed, during upright standing, biomechanical constraints differ along the antero-posterior (A-P) and medio-lateral (M-L) axes; hence an impact of observers’ post…
Changes in cortico-spinal excitability following uphill versus downhill treadmill exercise
International audience; An acute bout of aerobic exercise induces neuroplasticity in the motor cortex. Moreover, paired associative stimulation (PAS) is known to induce neuroplasticity in M1. However, the possible influence of the type of exercise on the neuroplastic changes remains unknown. The present study investigated the effects of two different modes of muscle contraction produced during locomotor exercise on changes in corticospinal (CS) excitability. Subjects performed two 30-min treadmill exercises at an intensity corresponding to 60% of their maximal heart rate with either a +10% (uphill) or -10% (downhill) slope. These exercises were followed or not by paired associative stimulat…
Effects of different unstable supports on EMG activity and balance
This study analysed the equilibrium strategies and EMG activity during postural equilibrium in four different unstable surfaces. Thirteen team sport males were tested on a FLAT surface and on three different wobble boards (JAKOBS(®) with easy multidirectional displacements, FREEMAN with strong multidirectional displacements and LATERAL with unidirectional lateral displacements). They had to maintain single-limb stance during 5s for each condition. The right foot centre of pressure (COP) position and its variability with concomitant EMG activity of soleus (SOL), tibialis anterior (TA), peroneus longus (PL) and extensor digitorum longus (EXD) muscles were recorded. Subjects maintained balance…
Effects of an Electrostimulation Training Program on Strength, Jumping, and Kicking Capacities in Soccer Players
The present study investigated the influence of a 5-week electrostimulation (EMS) training program on muscular strength, kicking velocity, sprint, and vertical jump performance in soccer players. Twenty amateur soccer players participated in the study, 10 in the electrostimulated group and the remaining 10 in a control group. Electrostimulation was applied on the quadriceps muscles over 5 weeks. Subjects were tested before, during (wk-3), and after (wk-5) the EMS training program. Maximal voluntary contraction using different contraction mode (i.e., eccentric, concentric, and isometric), vertical jump height, sprint running for 10 m, and ball speed were examined. We observed an increase in …
Improvement of motor performance by observational training in elderly people.
Action observation influences action execution; this strong coupling is underlined by an overlap of cortical areas activated during observation and execution of action, and is dependent of specific motor experience. The goal of the present study was to verify if action observation can be used for rehabilitation of elderly people. We tested this question with a protocol of observational practice of 2 frequently used movements: walking and sit-to-stand/back-to-sit. Both tasks were performed at normal and maximal speed before and after training, by 8 elderly subjects. Observational practice led to an increase in walking velocity via an increase in step frequency, but without modification of st…
Effects of mixed reality head-mounted glasses during 90 minutes of mental and manual tasks on cognitive and physiological functions
Background We evaluated the effects of a mixed reality (MR) head-mounted deviceon some cognitiveand physiological functions during 90 min tasks in an attempt to determine their safety for workers. Methods A total of 12 volunteers performed 90-min intellectual and manual tasks with and without MR glasses. Balance, Stroop, and memory tests were conducted before, during and after these tasks. Heart rate and electromyographic activity of some muscles were recorded. A survey was used to determine subjective fatigue, pain, or discomfort. Results Balance, heart rate, rate of perceived exertion, memory, and attention were unaffected by wearing MR glasses. Electromyographic activity increased with …
Cardiorespiratory Changes During Prolonged Downhill Versus Uphill Treadmill Exercise
AbstractOxygen uptake (V̇O2), heart rate (HR), energy cost (EC) and oxygen pulse are lower during downhill compared to level or uphill locomotion. However, a change in oxygen pulse and EC during prolonged grade exercise is not well documented. This study investigated changes in cardiorespiratory responses and EC during 45-min grade exercises. Nine male healthy volunteers randomly ran at 75% HR reserve during 45-min exercise in a level (+1%), uphill (+15%) or downhill (−15%) condition. V̇O2 , minute ventilation (V̇E ) and end-tidal carbon dioxide (PetCO2) were recorded continuously with 5-min averaging between the 10th and 15th min (T1) and 40th and 45th min (T2). For a similar HR (157±3 bpm…
Effects of combined electromyostimulation and gymnastics training in prepubertal girls.
This study investigated the effects of a 6-week combined electromyostimulation (EMS) and gymnastic training program on muscle strength and vertical jump performance of prepubertal gymnasts. Sixteen young women gymnasts (age 12.4 ± 1.2 yrs) participated in this study, with 8 in the EMS group and the remaining 8 as controls. EMS was conducted on knee extensor muscles for 20 minutes 3 times a week during the first 3 weeks and once a week during the last 3 weeks. Gymnasts from both groups underwent similar gymnastics training 5-6 times a week. Isokinetic torque of the knee extensors was determined at different eccentric and concentric angular velocities ranging from -60 to +240° per second. Jum…
The acute effects of different high-intensity conditioning activities on sprint performance differ between sprinters of different strength and power characteristics
The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of different conditioning activities (CAs) on short-term increase in sprint performance. In twelve male sprinters (21.1+2.6 years, 100 m performance: 11.5+0.6 s) their body composition, half squat maximum strength, 100 m sprinting and countermovement jump performances were evaluated. The performance of a 50 m sprint (splits at 10 m, 30 m and 50 m) was evaluated before and 5, 10 and 15 min after four postactivation performance enhancement CAs on different occasions: [1] 3 sets x 4 s maximum isometric half squat (IHF), [2] 3 sets x 3 consecutive countermovement jumps (cCMJs), [3] 3 repetitions x 30 m overspeed sprinting (OVSP) and [4]…
Mentally represented motor actions in normal agingII. The influence of the gravito-inertial context on the duration of overt and covert arm movements
Here, we address the question of whether normal aging influences action representation by comparing the ability of 14 young (age: 23.6 +/- 2.1 years) and 14 older (age: 70.1 +/- 4.5 years) adults to mentally simulate arm movements under a varying dynamic context. We conducted two experiments in which we experimentally manipulated the gravity and inertial components of arm dynamics: (i) unloaded and loaded vertical arm movements, rotation around the shoulder joint, (ii) unloaded and loaded horizontal arm movements, rotations around the shoulder and elbow joints, in two directions (inertial anisotropy phenomenon). The main findings indicated that imagery ability was equivalent between the two…
Immediate effects of shoes inducing ankle-destabilization around Henke's axis during challenging walking gaits: Gait kinematics and peroneal muscles activities
International audience; Due to its high frequency of occurrence, as well as possible residual symptoms, proper treatment of lateral ankle sprains (LAS) is important. From a physiological point of view, increasing the quantity of electromyographic (EMG) activity in the peroneal muscles will mechanically improve the functional stability of the ankle joint. The present study investigated the immediate effects of an ankle destabilization device (ADD) specifically designed to induce imbalances along the Henke’s axis during 3 challenging walking tasks. As the effects of such a device have to be tested on healthy participants before being implemented in rehabilitation programs, 12 healthy particip…
Étude comparative de deux modes d’entraînements physiques en Ehpad
Resume Cette etude a compare les effets de deux types d’entrainements chez 22 personnes âgees d’un service d’Etablissement d’hebergement de personnes âgees dependantes (Ehpad). Les sujets ont ete separes en deux groupes de maniere randomisee. Seulement 16 d’entre eux ont participe a l’ensemble des seances et sont inclus dans les analyses statistiques. Le « groupe force » a realise des exercices analytiques de musculation en salle et le « groupe aerobie » a realise des seances de marche continue et intermittente dans un couloir. Chaque groupe a effectue cinq semaines d’entrainement specifique. Avant et apres entrainement, la population a ete evaluee avec deux tests : le « 30 s-chair-stand te…
Pea proteins oral supplementation promotes muscle thickness gains during resistance training: a double-blind, randomized, Placebo-controlled clinical trial vs. Whey protein
The effects of protein supplementation on muscle thickness and strength seem largely dependent on its composition. The current study aimed at comparing the impact of an oral supplementation with vegetable Pea protein (NUTRALYS®) vs. Whey protein and Placebo on biceps brachii muscle thickness and strength after a 12-week resistance training program. One hundred and sixty one males, aged 18 to 35 years were enrolled in the study and underwent 12 weeks of resistance training on upper limb muscles. According to randomization, they were included in the Pea protein (n = 53), Whey protein (n = 54) or Placebo (n = 54) group. All had to take 25 g of the proteins or placebo twice a day during the 12-…
Does Observation of Postural Imbalance Induce a Postural Reaction?
Import JabRef | WosArea Life Sciences and Biomedicine - Other Topics; International audience; Background: Several studies bring evidence that action observation elicits contagious responses during social interactions. However automatic imitative tendencies are generally inhibited and it remains unclear in which conditions mere action observation triggers motor behaviours. In this study, we addressed the question of contagious postural responses when observing human imbalance. Methodology/Principal Findings: We recorded participants' body sway while they observed a fixation cross (control condition), an upright point-light display of a gymnast balancing on a rope, and the same point-light di…
Dominant vs. nondominant arm advantage in mentally simulated actions in right handers
Although plentiful data are available regarding mental states involving the dominant-right arm, the evidence for the nondominant-left arm is sparse. Here, we investigated whether right-handers can generate accurate predictions with either the right or the left arm. Fifteen adults carried out actual and mental arm movements in two directions with varying inertial resistance (inertial anisotropy phenomenon). We recorded actual and mental movement times and used the degree of their similarity as an indicator for the accuracy of motor imagery/prediction process. We found timing correspondences (isochrony) between actual and mental right arm movements in both rightward (low inertia resistance) …
The Relation between Geometry and Time in Mental Actions
Mental imagery is a cognitive tool that helps humans take decisions by simulating past and future events. The hypothesis has been advanced that there is a functional equivalence between actual and mental movements. Yet, we do not know whether there are any limitations to its validity even in terms of some fundamental features of actual movements, such as the relationship between space and time. Although it is impossible to directly measure the spatiotemporal features of mental actions, an indirect investigation can be conducted by taking advantage of the constraints existing in planar drawing movements and described by the two-thirds power law (2/3PL). This kinematic law describes one of th…