Portnoy, S., Mimouni-Bloch, A., Rosenberg, L., Offek, H., Berman, T., Kochavi, M., et al. (2018). Graphical Product Quality and Muscle Activity in Children With Mild Disabilities Drawing on a Horizontally or Vertically Oriented Tablet. Am J Occup Ther, 72(6), 1–7.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE. We compared performance level and muscle activity patterns during shape copying and tracing in two positions, while sitting at a desk and while standing in front of a wall, between typically developing (TD) preschool children and children with mild disabilities (MD).
METHOD. Twenty-two TD children (8 boys, 14 girls; mean [M] age 5 5.2 yr, standard deviation [SD] 5 0.1) and 13 children with MD (9 boys, 4 girls; M age 5 4.9 yr, SD 5 0.5) participated in this study.
RESULTS. The children performed faster and smoother movements when copying shapes on the vertical surface, with no reduction of accuracy, than on the horizontal surface. Children with MD exerted their upper trapezius while performing the short tasks on the vertical surface compared with their muscle activity on the horizontal surface.
CONCLUSION. Incorporating short copying or drawing tasks on a vertical surface may increase the control of proximal muscles and ease graphomotor performance in children with MD.
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Kaufman-Cohen, Y., Friedman, J., Levanon, Y., Jacobi, G., Doron, N., & Portnoy, S. (2018). Wrist Plane of Motion and Range During Daily Activities. Am J Occup Ther, 72(6), 1–10.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE. The dart-throwing motion (DTM) is a multiplane wrist motion that is needed for many daily occupations. Mobilization along the DTM plane may be essential for rehabilitation after wrist injury, but DTM angles are reported for the dominant hand alone, so their relevance to injury in the nondominant hand cannot be surmised. The aim of this study was to quantify the DTM plane angles for both hands during different activities of daily living (ADLs).
METHOD. Forty-three healthy participants wore a twin-axis electrogoniometer during ADLs.
RESULTS. No significant differences were found between the DTM plane angles of the dominant (20°�45°) and nondominant (15°�40°) hands. These angles varied by task and across participants.
CONCLUSION. The DTM plane is a functional motion used by both hands during ADLs. Because the DTM plane angle differs among hands, tasks, and individual clients, wrist rehabilitation involving the DTM plane should not be limited to a singular DTM plane angle.OBJECTIVE. The dart-throwing motion (DTM) is a multiplane wrist motion that is needed for many daily occupations. Mobilization along the DTM plane may be essential for rehabilitation after wrist injury, but DTM angles are reported for the dominant hand alone, so their relevance to injury in the nondominant hand cannot be surmised. The aim of this study was to quantify the DTM plane angles for both hands during different activities of daily living (ADLs).
METHOD. Forty-three healthy participants wore a twin-axis electrogoniometer during ADLs.
RESULTS. No significant differences were found between the DTM plane angles of the dominant (20°�45°) and nondominant (15°�40°) hands. These angles varied by task and across participants.
CONCLUSION. The DTM plane is a functional motion used by both hands during ADLs. Because the DTM plane angle differs among hands, tasks, and individual clients, wrist rehabilitation involving the DTM plane should not be limited to a singular DTM plane angle.
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Friedman, J., & Korman, M. (2019). Observation of an expert model induces a skilled movement coordination pattern in a single session of intermittent practice. Sci Rep, 9(1), 4609.
Abstract: We tested how observation of a skilled pattern of planar movements can assist in the learning of a new motor skill, which otherwise requires rigorous long-term practice to achieve fast and smooth performance. Sixty participants performed a sequence of planar hand movements on pre-test, acquisition, post-test and 24 h post-training blocks, under 1 of 4 conditions: an observation group (OG), a slowed observation group (SOG), a random motion control group (RMCG) and a double physical training control group (DPTCG). The OG and SOG observed an expert model's right hand performing the study task intermittently throughout acquisition, RMCG observed random dots movement instead of a model. Participants in the DPTCG received extra physical practice trials instead of the visually observed trials. Kinematic analysis revealed that only in conditions with observation of an expert model there was an instant robust improvement in motor planning of the task. This step-wise improvement was not only persistent in post-training retests but was also apparently implicit and subject to further incremental improvements in movement strategy over the period of 24 hours. The rapid change in motor strategy was accompanied by a transient within-session increase in spatial error for the observation groups, but this went away by 24 h post-training. We suggest that observation of hand movements of an expert model coaligned with self-produced movements during training can significantly condense the time-course of ecologically relevant drawing/writing skill mastery.
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Ezrati, O., Friedman, J., & Dar, R. (2019). Attenuation of access to internal states in high obsessive-compulsive individuals might increase susceptibility to false feedback: Evidence from a visuo-motor hand-reaching task. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 65, 101445.
Abstract: Background and objectives
The Seeking Proxies for Internal States (SPIS) model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) posits that obsessive-compulsive (OC) individuals have attenuated access to their internal states. Hence, they seek and rely on proxies, or discernible substitutes for these internal states. In previous studies, participants with high OC tendencies and OCD patients, compared to controls, showed increased reliance on external proxies and were more influenced by false feedback when judging their internal states. This study is the first to examine the effects of false feedback on performance of hand movements in participants with high and low OC tendencies.
Method
Thirty-four participants with high OC tendencies and 34 participants with low OC tendencies were asked to perform accurate hand reaches without visual feedback in two separate sessions of a computerized hand-reaching task: once after valid feedback training of their hand location and once with false-rotated feedback. We assessed the accuracy and directional adaptation of participants' reaches.
Results
As predicted, high OC participants evidenced a larger decrease in their hand positioning accuracy after training with false feedback compared to low OC participants.
Limitations
The generalization of our findings to OCD requires replication with a clinical sample.
Conclusions
These results suggest that in addition to self-perceptions, motor performance of OC individuals is prone to be overly influenced by false feedback, possibly due to attenuated access to proprioceptive cues. These findings may be particularly relevant to understanding the distorted sense of agency in OCD.
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Raveh, E., Portnoy, S., & Friedman, J. (2018). Myoelectric Prosthesis Users Improve Performance Time and Accuracy Using Vibrotactile Feedback When Visual Feedback Is Disturbed. Arch Phys Med Rehabil, 99(11), 2263–2270.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of adding vibrotactile feedback (VTF) in myoelectric prosthesis users during performance of a functional task when visual feedback is disturbed. DESIGN: A repeated-measures design with a counter-balanced order of 3 conditions. SETTING: Laboratory setting. PARTICIPANTS: Transradial amputees using a myoelectric prosthesis with normal or corrected eyesight (N=12, median age 65+/-13y). Exclusion criteria were orthopedic or neurologic problems. INTERVENTIONS: All participants performed the modified Box and Blocks Test, grasping and manipulating 16 blocks over a partition using their myoelectric prosthesis. This was performed 3 times: in full light, in a dark room without VTF, and in a dark room with VTF. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Performance time, that is, the time needed to transfer 1 block, and accuracy during performance, measured by number of empty grips, empty transitions with no block and block drops from the hand. RESULTS: Significant differences were found in all outcome measures when VTF was added, with improved performance time (4.2 vs 5.3s) and a reduced number of grasping errors (3.0 vs 6.5 empty grips, 1.5 vs 4 empty transitions, 2.0 vs 4.5 block drops). CONCLUSIONS: Adding VTF to myoelectric prosthesis users has positive effects on performance time and accuracy when visual feedback is disturbed.
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