Search results for "Physical Medicine"
showing 10 items of 1129 documents
Evidence of resistance training-induced neural adaptation in older adults
2021
The deleterious effects of aging on force production are observable from the age of 40 upwards, depending on the measure. Neural mechanisms contributing to maximum force production and rate of force development have been suggested as descending drive from supraspinal centers, spinal motoneuron excitability, and corticospinal inhibition of descending drive; all of which influence motor unit recruitment and/or firing rate. Resistance-trained Master athletes offer a good source of information regarding the inevitable effects of aging despite the countermeasure of systematic resistance-training. However, most evidence of neural adaptation is derived from longitudinal intervention studies in pre…
A New Frailty Score for Experimental Animals Based on the Clinical Phenotype: Inactivity as a Model of Frailty.
2016
The development of animal models to study human frailty is important to test interventions to be translated to the clinical practice. The aim of this work was to develop a score for frailty in experimental animals based in the human frailty phenotype. We also tested the effect of physical inactivity in the development of frailty as determined by our score. Male C57Bl/6J mice, individually caged, were randomly assigned to one of two groups: sedentary (inactive) or spontaneous wheel-runners. We compared the sedentary versus the active lifestyle in terms of frailty by evaluating the clinical criteria used in humans: unintentional weight loss; poor endurance (running time); slowness (running sp…
Pre-dopa Deep Brain Stimulation: Is Early Deep Brain Stimulation Able to Modify the Natural Course of Parkinson’s Disease?
2020
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established therapy for the management of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, DBS is indicated as the disease progresses and motor complications derived from pharmacological therapy arise. Here, we evaluate the potential of DBS prior to levodopa (L-Dopa) in improving quality of life (QoL), challenging the state of the art for DBS therapy. We present data on clinical manifestation, decision finding during early indication to DBS, and trajectories after DBS. We further discuss current paradigms for DBS and hypothesize on possible mechanisms. Six patients, between 50 and 67 years old, presenting at least 5 years of PD symptoms, and without L-Dopa therapy initi…
Effects of transcranial random noise stimulation combined with Graded Repetitive Arm Supplementary Program (GRASP) on motor rehabilitation of the upp…
2019
We evaluated the combined use of transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) with the Graded Repetitive Arm Supplementary Program (GRASP) in sub-acute ischemic stroke patients suffering from arm impairment. Eighteen ischemic stroke patients with upper limb disability were randomly assigned to either the GRASP + tRNS or GRASP + Sham stimulation group. Fugl-Meyer Assessment-Upper extremity (FMA-UE) was performed to evaluate upper limb impairment before treatment (T0), after the last stimulation (T1) and after 30 days (T2). At T1 and T2, beneficial effects in the tRNS group correlated with better FMA-UE score than sham stimulation group (p < 0.001) and these results did not correlate to st…
Using Clicker Training and Social Observation to Teach Rats to Voluntarily Change Cages.
2018
Cage cleaning is a routinely performed husbandry procedure and is known to induce stress in laboratory rats. As stress can have a negative impact on well-being and can affect the comparability and reproducibility of research results, the amount of stress experienced by laboratory animals should be minimized and avoided when possible. Further, the direct contact between the rat and animal caretaker during the cage change bears hygiene risks and therefore possibly negatively impacts the well-being of the rats and the quality of the research. Our protocol aims to improve the routinely performed cage changing procedure. For this reason, we present a feasible protocol that enables rats to learn …
Clinical-Instrumental patterns of neurodegeneration in Essential Tremor: A data-driven approach
2021
Abstract Introduction Essential Tremor (ET) is increasingly recognized as a complex disorder with additional clinical signs other than tremor. It is still unknown whether a unique pathophysiologic or neurodegenerative process underlies progression and prognosis of the disease. The aim of the study was to identify ET phenotypes through a clinical-instrumental data-driven approach and to characterize possible patterns of neurodegeneration. Methods ET patients were categorized using spatio-temporal and kinematic variables related to mobility and dynamic stability processed by motion transducers. Differences between the identified groups in clinical-demographic variables, neuropsychological per…
Cortical Reorganization after Rehabilitation in a Patient with Conduction Aphasia Using High-Density EEG
2020
Conduction aphasia is a language disorder occurred after a left-brain injury. It is characterized by fluent speech production, reading, writing and normal comprehension, while speech repetition is impaired. The aim of this study is to investigate the cortical responses, induced by language activities, in a sub-acute stroke patient affected by conduction aphasia before and after an intensive speech therapy training. The patient was examined by using High-Density Electroencephalogram (HD-EEG) examination, while was performing language tasks. the patient was evaluated at baseline and after two months after rehabilitative treatment. Our results showed that an intensive rehabilitative process, i…
Exercise Training Protocols in Rabbits Applied in Cardiovascular Research
2020
Simple Summary Several animal models have been used to understand the physiological adaptations produced by exercise training in the healthy and diseased cardiovascular system. Among those, the protocols for acute and chronic exercise in rabbits present several advantages compared to other large animal models. In addition, the rabbit model has important physiological similarities with humans. On the other hand, the design of the training protocol is a key factor to induce the physiological adaptations. Here, we review the different training protocols used in rabbits and the different physiological adaptations produced in the cardiovascular system, in normal and pathological conditions. Abst…
Validity and reliability of the CatWalk system as a static and dynamic gait analysis tool for the assessment of functional nerve recovery in small an…
2017
Introduction: A range of behavioral testing paradigms have been developed for the research of central and peripheral nerve injuries with the help of small animal models. Following any nerve repair strategy, improved functional outcome may be the most important evidence of axon regeneration. A novel automated gait analysis system, the CatWalk™, can measure dynamic as well as static gait patterns of small animals. Of most interest in detecting functional recovery are in particular dynamic gait parameters, coordination measures, and the intensity of the animals paw prints. This article is designed to lead to a more efficient choice of CatWalk parameters in future studies concerning the functio…
New Symptomatic Treatments for the Management of Motor and Nonmotor Symptoms of Parkinson's Disease
2017
Motor symptoms are core features of Parkinson's disease, while nonmotor symptoms are present from the prodromal stage. Management strategies for the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease have been widely researched and there have been many advances. Therapy has evolved from oral therapy to once a day to nonoral strategies, both for rescue and for infusion therapy. Treatment for nonmotor symptoms, however, has remained a key unmet need, although of late evidence base for management of some nonmotor symptoms such as pain, dementia, aspects of sleep dysfunction, and constipation has emerged. However, management of many nonmotor symptoms such as anxiety, apathy, fatigue, and insomnia remains un…