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Author Liebermann, D.G.; Levin, M.F.; McIntyre, J.; Weiss, P.L.; Berman, S.
Title Arm path fragmentation and spatiotemporal features of hand reaching in healthy subjects and stroke patients Type Journal Article
Year 2010 Publication Conference Proceedings : ... Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Conference Abbreviated Journal Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc
Volume 2010 Issue Pages 5242-5245
Keywords Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Analysis of Variance; Arm/*physiology; Biomechanics/physiology; Female; Hand/*physiology; *Health; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Movement/*physiology; Posture/physiology; Principal Component Analysis; Stroke/*physiopathology; Time Factors
Abstract Arm motion in healthy humans is characterized by smooth and relatively short paths. The current study focused on 3D reaching in stroke patients. Sixteen right-hemiparetic stroke patients and 8 healthy adults performed 42 reaching movements towards 3 visual targets located at an extended arm distance. Performance was assessed in terms of spatial and temporal features of the movement; i.e., hand path, arm posture and smoothness. Differences between groups and within subjects were hypothesized for spatial and temporal aspects of reaching under the assumption that both are independent. As expected, upper limb motion of patients was characterized by longer and jerkier hand paths and slower speeds. Assessment of the number of sub-movements within each movement did not clearly discriminate between groups. Principal component analyses revealed specific clusters of either spatial or temporal measures, which accounted for a large proportion of the variance in patients but not in healthy controls. These findings support the notion of a separation between spatial and temporal features of movement. Stroke patients may fail to integrate the two aspects when executing reaching movements towards visual targets.
Address Physical Therapy Dept., Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, 69978 Israel. dlieberm@post.tau.ac.il
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language (up) English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1557-170X ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:21096047 Approved no
Call Number Serial 30
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Author Roijezon, U.; Djupsjobacka, M.; Bjorklund, M.; Hager-Ross, C.; Grip, H.; Liebermann, D.G.
Title Kinematics of fast cervical rotations in persons with chronic neck pain: a cross-sectional and reliability study Type Journal Article
Year 2010 Publication BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders Abbreviated Journal BMC Musculoskelet Disord
Volume 11 Issue Pages 222
Keywords Adult; Aged; Biomechanics/*physiology; Cervical Vertebrae/*physiopathology; Chronic Disease; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Head Movements/*physiology; Humans; Middle Aged; Neck Pain/*diagnosis/*etiology/physiopathology; Physical Examination/methods; Reproducibility of Results; Rotation/*adverse effects; Time Factors; Young Adult
Abstract BACKGROUND: Assessment of sensorimotor function is useful for classification and treatment evaluation of neck pain disorders. Several studies have investigated various aspects of cervical motor functions. Most of these have involved slow or self-paced movements, while few have investigated fast cervical movements. Moreover, the reliability of assessment of fast cervical axial rotation has, to our knowledge, not been evaluated before. METHODS: Cervical kinematics was assessed during fast axial head rotations in 118 women with chronic nonspecific neck pain (NS) and compared to 49 healthy controls (CON). The relationship between cervical kinematics and symptoms, self-rated functioning and fear of movement was evaluated in the NS group. A sub-sample of 16 NS and 16 CON was re-tested after one week to assess the reliability of kinematic variables. Six cervical kinematic variables were calculated: peak speed, range of movement, conjunct movements and three variables related to the shape of the speed profile. RESULTS: Together, peak speed and conjunct movements had a sensitivity of 76% and a specificity of 78% in discriminating between NS and CON, of which the major part could be attributed to peak speed (NS: 226 +/- 88 degrees /s and CON: 348 +/- 92 degrees /s, p < 0.01). Peak speed was slower in NS compared to healthy controls and even slower in NS with comorbidity of low-back pain. Associations were found between reduced peak speed and self-rated difficulties with running, performing head movements, car driving, sleeping and pain. Peak speed showed reasonably high reliability, while the reliability for conjunct movements was poor. CONCLUSIONS: Peak speed of fast cervical axial rotations is reduced in people with chronic neck pain, and even further reduced in subjects with concomitant low back pain. Fast cervical rotation test seems to be a reliable and valid tool for assessment of neck pain disorders on group level, while a rather large between subject variation and overlap between groups calls for caution in the interpretation of individual assessments.
Address Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, University of Gavle, Sweden. ulrik.roijezon@ltu.se
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language (up) English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1471-2474 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:20875135 Approved no
Call Number Serial 31
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Author Krasovsky, T.; Berman, S.; Liebermann, D.G.
Title Kinematic features of continuous hand reaching movements under simple and complex rhythmical constraints Type Journal Article
Year 2010 Publication Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology : Official Journal of the International Society of Electrophysiological Kinesiology Abbreviated Journal J Electromyogr Kinesiol
Volume 20 Issue 4 Pages 636-641
Keywords *Acoustic Stimulation; Adult; Biomechanics; *Cues; Female; Hand/*physiology; Humans; Male; Movement/*physiology
Abstract BACKGROUND: Auditory cues are known to alter movement kinematics in healthy people as well as in people with neurological conditions (e.g., Parkinson's disease or stroke). Pacing movement to rhythmical constraints is known to change both the spatial and temporal features of movement. However, the effect of complexity of pacing on the spatial and temporal kinematic properties is still poorly understood. The current study investigated spatial and temporal aspects of movement (path and speed, respectively) and their integration while subjects followed simple isochronous or complex non-isochronous rhythmical constraints. Spatiotemporal decoupling was expected under the latter constraint. METHODS: Ten subjects performed point-to-point hand movements towards visual targets on the surface of a hemisphere, while following continuous auditory cues of different pace and meter. The spatial and temporal properties of movement were compared to geodesic paths and unimodal bell-shaped speed profiles, respectively. Multiple two-way RM-ANOVAs (pace [1-2 Hz] x meter [duple-triple]) were performed on the different kinematic variables calculated to assess hand deviations from the model data (p< or = 0.05). RESULTS: As expected, increasing pace resulted in straighter hand paths and smoother speed profiles. Meter, however, affected only the path (shorter and straighter under triple) without significantly changing speed. Such an effect was observed at the slow pace only. CONCLUSIONS: Under simple rhythmic cues, an increase in pace causes spontaneous adjustments in spatial features (straighter hand paths) while preserving temporal ones (maximally-smoothed hand speeds). Complex rhythmical cues in contrast perturb spatiotemporal coupling and challenge movement control. These results may have important practical implications in motor rehabilitation.
Address Department of Physical and Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Canada
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language (up) 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:20382031 Approved no
Call Number Serial 32
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Author Liebermann, D.G.; Krasovsky, T.; Berman, S.
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 (up) 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 33
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Author Liebermann, D.G.; Defrin, R.
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 (up) 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 34
Permanent link to this record