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Author Liebermann, D.G.; Hoffman, J.R. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Timing of preparatory landing responses as a function of availability of optic flow information Type Journal Article
  Year 2005 Publication Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology : Official Journal of the International Society of Electrophysiological Kinesiology Abbreviated Journal J Electromyogr Kinesiol  
  Volume 15 Issue 1 Pages 120-130  
  Keywords Adult; Cues; Electromyography; Humans; Male; Movement/physiology; Muscle, Skeletal/*physiology; Posture/physiology; Psychomotor Performance/*physiology; Vision, Ocular/*physiology  
  Abstract This study investigated temporal patterns of EMG activity during self-initiated falls with different optic flow information ('gaze directions'). Onsets of EMG during the flight phase were monitored from five experienced volunteers that completed 72 landings in three gaze directions (downward, mid-range and horizontal) and six heights of fall (10-130 cm). EMG recordings were obtained from the right gastrocnemius, tibialis anterior, biceps femoris and rectus femoris muscles, and used to determine the latency of onset (L(o)) and the perceived time to contact (T(c)). Impacts at touchdown were also monitored using as estimates the major peak of the vertical ground reaction forces (F(max)) normalized to body mass, time to peak (T(max)), peak impulse (I(norm)) normalized to momentum, and rate of change of force (dF(max)/dt). Results showed that L(o) was longer as heights of fall increased, but remained within a narrow time-window at >50 cm landings. No significant differences in L(o) were observed when gaze direction was changed. The relationship between T(c) and flight time followed a linear trend regardless of gaze direction. Gaze direction did not significantly affect the landing impacts. In conclusion, availability of optic flow during landing does not play a major role in triggering the preparatory muscle actions in self-initiated falls. Once a structured landing plan has been acquired, the relevant muscles respond relative to the start of the fall.  
  Address Department of Physical Therapy, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions, University of Tel Aviv, Ramat Aviv, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1050-6411 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:15642660 Approved no  
  Call Number Serial (down) 39  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Liebermann, D.G.; Goodman, D. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Pre-landing muscle timing and post-landing effects of falling with continuous vision and in blindfold conditions Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology : Official Journal of the International Society of Electrophysiological Kinesiology Abbreviated Journal J Electromyogr Kinesiol  
  Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 212-227  
  Keywords Adult; Analysis of Variance; Biomechanics; *Blindness; *Electromyography; Humans; Joints/physiology; Lower Extremity/physiology; Male; Movement/*physiology; Muscle, Skeletal/*physiology; Orientation; *Vision, Ocular  
  Abstract The present study examined the effect of continuous vision and its occlusion in timing of pre-landing actions during free falls. When vision is occluded, muscle activation is hypothesized to start relative to onset of the fall. However, when continuous vision is available onset of action is hypothesized to be relative to the moment of touchdown. Six subjects performed 6 randomized sets of 6 trials after becoming familiar with the task. The 36 trials were divided in 2 visual conditions (vision and blindfold) and 3 heights of fall (15, 45 and 75 cm). EMG activity was recorded from the gastrocnemius and rectus femoris muscles during the falls. The latency of onset (L(o)) and the lapse from EMG onset to touchdown (T(c)) were obtained from these muscles. Vertical forces were recorded to assess the effects of pre-landing activity on the impacts at collision with and without continuous vision. Peak amplitude (F(max)), time to peak (T(max)) and peak impulse normalized to momentum (I(norm)) were used as outcome measures. Within flight time ranges of approximately 50-400 ms, the results showed that L(o) and T(c) follow a similar linear trend whether continuous vision was available or occluded. However, the variability of T(c) for each of the muscles was larger in the vision occluded condition. Analyses of variance showed that the rectus femoris muscle started consistently earlier in no vision trials. Finally, impact forces were not different in vision or blindfold conditions, and thus, they were not affected by minor differences in the timing of muscles prior to landing. Thus, it appears that knowing the surroundings before falling may help to reduce the need for a continuous visual input. The relevance of such input cannot be ruled out for falls from high landing heights, but cognitive factors (e.g., attention to specific cues and anticipation of a fall) may play a dominant role in timing actions during short duration falls encountered daily.  
  Address Physical Therapy Department, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. dlieberm@post.tau.ac.il <dlieberm@post.tau.ac.il>  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1050-6411 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:16600637 Approved no  
  Call Number Serial (down) 37  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Biess, A.; Liebermann, D.G.; Flash, T. url  doi
openurl 
  Title A computational model for redundant human three-dimensional pointing movements: integration of independent spatial and temporal motor plans simplifies movement dynamics Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience Abbreviated Journal J Neurosci  
  Volume 27 Issue 48 Pages 13045-13064  
  Keywords Analysis of Variance; Arm/physiology; Biomechanics; *Computer Simulation; Humans; *Models, Biological; Movement/*physiology; *Nonlinear Dynamics; Posture/physiology; Psychomotor Performance/*physiology; Range of Motion, Articular/physiology; Reaction Time/physiology; Space Perception/*physiology; Time Factors; Torque  
  Abstract Few computational models have addressed the spatiotemporal features of unconstrained three-dimensional (3D) arm motion. Empirical observations made on hand paths, speed profiles, and arm postures during point-to-point movements led to the assumption that hand path and arm posture are independent of movement speed, suggesting that the geometric and temporal properties of movements are decoupled. In this study, we present a computational model of 3D movements for an arm with four degrees of freedom based on the assumption that optimization principles are separately applied at the geometric and temporal levels of control. Geometric properties (path and posture) are defined in terms of geodesic paths with respect to the kinetic energy metric in the Riemannian configuration space. Accordingly, a geodesic path can be generated with less muscular effort than on any other, nongeodesic path, because the sum of all configuration-speed-dependent torques vanishes. The temporal properties of the movement (speed) are determined in task space by minimizing the squared jerk along the selected end-effector path. The integration of both planning levels into a single spatiotemporal representation simplifies the control of arm dynamics along geodesic paths and results in movements with near minimal torque change and minimal peak value of kinetic energy. Thus, the application of Riemannian geometry allows for a reconciliation of computational models previously proposed for the description of arm movements. We suggest that geodesics are an emergent property of the motor system through the exploration of dynamical space. Our data validated the predictions for joint trajectories, hand paths, final postures, speed profiles, and driving torques.  
  Address Department of Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel. armin.biess@weizmann.ac.il  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0270-6474 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:18045899 Approved no  
  Call Number Serial (down) 35  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Liebermann, D.G.; Defrin, R. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Characteristics of the nociceptive withdrawal response elicited under aware and unaware conditions Type Journal Article
  Year 2009 Publication Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology : Official Journal of the International Society of Electrophysiological Kinesiology Abbreviated Journal J Electromyogr Kinesiol  
  Volume 19 Issue 2 Pages e114-22  
  Keywords Adult; Arm/*physiopathology; Attention; *Awareness; Cues; Female; Humans; Male; Movement; *Muscle Contraction; Muscle, Skeletal/*physiopathology; Pain/*physiopathology; *Reflex; *Startle Reaction  
  Abstract BACKGROUND: Nociceptive withdrawal reflexes (NWR) are subject to supraspinal modulation. Therefore, awareness about a noxious stimulation may affect its characteristics. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of different degrees of awareness on the NWR. METHOD: Eight subjects performed back and forth hand movements from a common starting point towards four visual targets during which NWR was evoked when subjects were either unaware or aware of a noxious stimulation (unaware-NWR and aware-NWR). For the comparison between the NWR under both conditions, onset latencies and kinematic variables were computed respectively from the recorded Biceps Brachii EMG and from the spatial coordinates of hand reflective markers. RESULTS: The onset latency of unaware-NWR (mean+/-SD 73.9+/-13 ms) was significantly shorter than that of the aware-NWR (91.1+/-27 ms, p<0.05). The total duration of the muscular activation was shorter in unaware-NWR than in aware-NWR. The slopes of the tangential velocity-time curves were steeper for unaware-NWR than for aware-NWR (p=0.057). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that supraspinal regulation of NWR under different degrees of awareness involves the re-parameterization of selected spatiotemporal aspects of a pre-structured motor response.  
  Address Department of Physical Therapy, The Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1050-6411 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:18063387 Approved no  
  Call Number Serial (down) 34  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Liebermann, D.G.; Krasovsky, T.; Berman, S. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Planning maximally smooth hand movements constrained to nonplanar workspaces Type Journal Article
  Year 2008 Publication Journal of Motor Behavior Abbreviated Journal J Mot Behav  
  Volume 40 Issue 6 Pages 516-531  
  Keywords Adaptation, Physiological; Adult; Algorithms; Female; Hand/*physiology; Humans; *Intention; Kinesthesis/*physiology; Male; Models, Statistical; Movement/*physiology; Psychomotor Performance/*physiology; Reference Values; Writing  
  Abstract The article characterizes hand paths and speed profiles for movements performed in a nonplanar, 2-dimensional workspace (a hemisphere of constant curvature). The authors assessed endpoint kinematics (i.e., paths and speeds) under the minimum-jerk model assumptions and calculated minimal amplitude paths (geodesics) and the corresponding speed profiles. The authors also calculated hand speeds using the 2/3 power law. They then compared modeled results with the empirical observations. In all, 10 participants moved their hands forward and backward from a common starting position toward 3 targets located within a hemispheric workspace of small or large curvature. Comparisons of modeled observed differences using 2-way RM-ANOVAs showed that movement direction had no clear influence on hand kinetics (p < .05). Workspace curvature affected the hand paths, which seldom followed geodesic lines. Constraining the paths to different curvatures did not affect the hand speed profiles. Minimum-jerk speed profiles closely matched the observations and were superior to those predicted by 2/3 power law (p < .001). The authors conclude that speed and path cannot be unambiguously linked under the minimum-jerk assumption when individuals move the hand in a nonplanar 2-dimensional workspace. In such a case, the hands do not follow geodesic paths, but they preserve the speed profile, regardless of the geometric features of the workspace.  
  Address Department of Physical Therapy, The Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel. dlieberm@post.tau.ac.il  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0022-2895 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:18980905 Approved no  
  Call Number Serial (down) 33  
Permanent link to this record
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