Search results for "Physical Medicine"

Reliability and validity of a new accelerometer-based device for detecting physical activities and energy expenditure.

2018

Background Objective assessments of sedentary behavior and physical activity (PA) by using accelerometer-based wearable devices are ever expanding, given their importance in the global context of health maintenance. This study aimed to determine the reliability and validity of a new accelerometer-based analyzer (Fibion) for detecting different PAs and estimating energy expenditure (EE) during a simulated free-living day. Methods The study consisted of two parts: a reliability (n = 18) and a validity (n = 19) test. Reliability was assessed by a 45 min protocol of repeated sitting, standing, and walking (i.e., 3 × 15 min, repeated twice), using both Fibion and ActiGraph. Validity was assesse…

A Multimodal Speech-Gesture Training Intervention for Patients With Schizophrenia and Its Neural Underpinnings – the Study Protocol of a Randomized C…

2020

Dysfunctional social communication is one of the most stable characteristics in patients with schizophrenia that also affects quality of life. Interpreting abstract speech and integrating nonverbal modalities is particularly affected. Considering the impact of communication on social life but failure to treat communication dysfunctions with usual treatment, we will investigate the possibility to improve verbal and non-verbal communication in schizophrenia by applying a multimodal speech-gesture training (MSG training). Here we describe the newly developed MSG training program and the study design for the first clinical investigation. The intervention contains perceptive rating (match/mismat…

Environmental facilitators for outdoor walking and development of walking difficulty in community-dwelling older adults

2013

Older adults who report environmental barriers in their neighborhood have a higher risk for walking difficulty. However, environmental facilitators that protect against walking difficulty are not well known. The objective of this study was to identify the effect of environmental facilitators for outdoor walking on development of walking difficulty in community-dwelling older people. This was a prospective study with a 3.5-year follow-up time on 261 community-dwelling people aged 75–81 years, who at baseline were able to walk 0.5 km without difficulty. Environmental facilitators for outdoor walking were self-reported with standardized questionnaires, including having features in one’s home w…

Exercise therapy for chronic musculoskeletal pain: Innovation by altering pain memories.

2015

Even though nociceptive pathology has often long subsided, the brain of patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain has typically acquired a protective (movement-related) pain memory. Exercise therapy for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain is often hampered by such pain memories. Here the authors explain how musculoskeletal therapists can alter pain memories in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain, by integrating pain neuroscience education with exercise interventions. The latter includes applying graded exposure in vivo principles during exercise therapy, for targeting the brain circuitries orchestrated by the amygdala (the memory of fear centre in the brain). Before initiatin…

Psychometric Properties Of The Finnish Version Of The Lower Extremity Functional Scale Among Foot And Ankle Patients

2016

2019

Gait and balance impairments are frequently considered as the most significant concerns among individuals suffering from neurological diseases. Robot-assisted gait training (RAGT) has shown to be a promising neurorehabilitation intervention to improve gait recovery in patients following stroke or brain injury by potentially initiating neuroplastic changes. However, the neurophysiological processes underlying gait recovery through RAGT remain poorly understood. As non-invasive, portable neuroimaging techniques, electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) provide new insights regarding the neurophysiological processes occurring during RAGT by measuring diffe…

EMG activities and plantar pressures during ski jumping take-off on three different sized hills

2001

Different profiles of ski jumping hills have been assumed to make the initiation of take-off difficult especially when moving from one hill to another. Neuromuscular adaptation of ski jumpers to the different jumping hills was examined by measuring muscle activation and plantar pressure of the primary take-off muscles on three different sized hills. Two young ski jumpers volunteered as subjects and they performed several trials from each hill (K-35 m, K-65 m and K-90 m) with the same electromyographic (EMG) electrode and insole pressure transducer set-up. The results showed that the differences in plantar pressure and EMGs between the jumping hills were smaller than expected for both jumper…

2020

Introduction Adolescents have experienced decreased aerobic fitness levels and insufficient physical activity levels over the past decades. While both physical activity and aerobic fitness are related to physical and mental health, little is known concerning how they manifest in the brain during this stage of development, characterized by significant physical and psychosocial changes. The aim of the study is to examine the associations between both physical activity and aerobic fitness with brains' functional connectivity. Methods Here, we examined how physical activity and aerobic fitness are associated with local and interhemispheric functional connectivity of the adolescent brain (n = 59…

Neuromuscular function during prolonged pedalling exercise at different cadences

2005

Aim: The purpose of the present work was to assess the strategies set by the central nervous system in order to provide the power output required throughout a prolonged (1-h) pedalling exercise performed at different cadences (50 rpm, 110 rpm and the freely chosen cadence). Methods: Neuromuscular (NM) activity of vastus lateralis, rectus femoris, biceps femoris and gastrocnemius lateralis muscles was studied quantitatively [root-mean square (RMS) and mean power frequency (MPF)] and qualitatively (timing of onset and offset of muscle bursts during crank cycle). Results: The present results showed that increased cadence resulted in earlier muscle activation in crank cycle. The influence of ca…

2020

Both daily demands as well as training and competition characteristics in sports can result in a psychobiological state of mental fatigue leading to feelings of tiredness, lack of energy, an increased perception of effort, and performance decrements. Moreover, optimal performance will only be achievable if the balance between recovery and stress states is re-established. Consequently, recovery strategies are needed aiming at mental aspects of recovery. The aim of the study was to examine acute effects of potential mental recovery strategies (MR) on subjective-psychological and on cognitive performance outcomes after a mentally fatiguing task. A laboratory-based randomized cross-over study w…