Cognitive Training Improves Joint Stiffness Regulation and Function in ACLR Patients Compared to Healthy Controls.

As cognitive function is critical for muscle coordination, cognitive training may also improve neuromuscular control strategy and knee function following an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). The purpose of this case-control study was to examine the effects of cognitive training on joint stiffness regulation in response to negative visual stimuli and knee function following ACLR. A total of 20 ACLR patients and 20 healthy controls received four weeks of online cognitive training.

Concussion is not associated with elevated rates of lower-extremity musculoskeletal injuries in National Football League Players.

Objective: Emerging evidence has identified an ~2x elevated risk of musculoskeletal (MSK) injury in the year following a concussion. Most of these studies have examined a single college/university athletic department and may lack generalizability to professional sports. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the odds of post-concussion MSK injury utilizing publicly available National Football League (NFL) injury reports.

Identifying Range-of-Motion Deficits and Talocrural Joint Laxity After an Acute Lateral Ankle Sprain.

Context: Approximately 72% of patients with an ankle sprain report residual symptoms 6 to 18 months later. Although 44% of patients return to activity in less than 24 hours after experiencing a sprain, residual symptoms should be evaluated in the long term to determine if deficits exist. These residual symptoms may be due to the quality of ligament tissue and motion after injury.

Negative Emotion and Joint-Stiffness Regulation Strategies After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury.

Context: Fear of reinjury after an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction (ACLR) may be associated with persistent deficits in knee function and subsequent injury. However, the effects of negative emotion on neuromuscular-control strategies after an ACL injury have remained unclear.

Objective: To identify how negative emotional stimuli affect neural processing in the brain and muscle coordination in patients after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction compared with healthy control participants.

Neuroplastic changes in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction patients from neuromechanical decoupling.

The purpose of this study was to identify how the brain simultaneously perceives proprioceptive input during joint loading in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) patients, when compared to healthy controls. Seventeen ACLR patients (ACLR) and seventeen controls (CONT) were tested for the somatosensory cortical activation using electroencephalography (EEG) while measuring knee laxity using a knee arthrometer. The relationship between cortical activation and joint laxity within group was also examined.

Evaluating Postural Control and Ankle Laxity Between Taping and High-Top Cleats in High School Football Players.

Context: Lateral ankle sprains are the most common injuries in high school sports. While ankle taping is a preferred method of external prophylactic support, its restrictive properties decline during exercise. The Under Armour Highlight cleat is marketed on the premise that it provides added support without the need for additional ankle taping.

The Effect of Shoulder Plyometric Training on Amortization Time and Upper-Extremity Kinematics.

Context: Plyometric training is credited with providing benefits in performance and dynamic restraint. However, limited prospective data exist quantifying kinematic adaptations such as amortization time, glenohumeral rotation, and scapulothoracic position, which may underlie the efficacy of plyometric training for upper-extremity rehabilitation or performance enhancement.

Objective: To measure upper-extremity kinematics and plyometric phase times before and after an 8-wk upper-extremity strength- and plyometric-training program.

Assessing performance, stability, and cleat comfort/support in collegiate club soccer players using prophylactic ankle taping and bracing.

Soccer athletes at all levels of play are keenly aware of their equipment needs including cleat wear, and want to be protected from injury but without impeding on-field performance. Ankle injury is a common disorder that is prevalent in the sport of soccer and recent improvements in ankle prophylaxis interventions have proven effective. The aim of this study was to determine if the use of elastic taping or a neoprene sleeve alters performance, stability, and cleat comfort/support in soccer players compared to wearing a soccer cleat without any external support.

Examining Ankle-Joint Laxity Using 2 Knee Positions and With Simulated Muscle Guarding.

Context: Several factors affect the reliability of the anterior drawer and talar tilt tests, including the individual clinician's experience and skill, ankle and knee positioning, and muscle guarding.

Objectives: To compare gastrocnemius activity during the measurement of ankle-complex motion at different knee positions, and secondarily, to compare ankle-complex motion during a simulated trial of muscle guarding.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Brains and Sprains: The Brain's Role in Noncontact Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries.

Small mental errors in judgment or coordination at illtimed phases of movement planning could lead to the rapid, premature onset of large joint forces during sports. If these loads are not fully anticipated, then preprogrammed muscle contractions may be insufficient for stiffness levels to provide dynamic restraint, regardless of sex. This sequence of events would limit the capacity of muscles to act in a load-compensating manner, thereby exposing capsuloligamentous structures to failure.

Adaptations of the Shoulder to Overhead Throwing in Youth Athletes.

Context: The high number of repetitions and high forces associated with overhead throwing lead to anatomical adaptations, such as humeral retrotorsion and posterior-capsule thickness, in elite and professional baseball athletes. However, little is known about the origin and progression of these changes that may account for the increasing trend of chronic shoulder injuries in youth baseball and precipitate subsequent pathologic conditions throughout a young athlete's lifetime.

Objective: To investigate the relationship of age and upper extremity dominance on humeral retrotorsion, posterior-capsule thickness, and glenohumeral range of motion.

The use of shear thickening nanocomposites in impact resistant materials.

The work presented here demonstrates using a novel, field-responsive nanocomposite based on shear thickening fluids (STFs) as responsive protective materials with superior damping and energy adsorption properties. Peak forces and accelerations measured using an instrumented Instron drop tower demonstrate that STF nanocomposite prototypes and impact foam taken from a commercial football helmet have similar performance for low kinetic energy impacts. However, tests with STF nanocomposite samples exhibit significantly reduced peak acceleration and peak force for impacts above 15 J.

Individuals with medial knee osteoarthritis show neuromuscular adaptation when perturbed during walking despite functional and structural impairments.

Neuromuscular control relies on sensory feedback that influences responses to changing external demands, and the normal response is for movement and muscle activation patterns to adapt to repeated perturbations. People with knee osteoarthritis (OA) are known to have pain, quadriceps weakness, and neuromotor deficits that could affect adaption to external perturbations. The aim of this study was to analyze neuromotor adaptation during walking in people with knee OA (n = 38) and controls (n = 23).

Effect of elastic taping on postural control deficits in subjects with healthy ankles, copers, and individuals with functional ankle instability.

Background: Ankle sprains are the most common injury among physically active people, with common sequelae including repeated episodes of giving way, termed functional ankle instability. Copers are a cohort in ankle research comprised of those who have sprained their ankle but have not suffered any further dysfunction. The use of an elastic tape, Kinesio Tape, in sports medicine practice has recently gained popularity and may help improve postural control deficits related to functional ankle instability.

Assessment of subacromial space and its relationship with scapular upward rotation in college baseball players.

Context: Subacromial impingement is a common injury in baseball players and has been linked to a reduction in the subacromial space. In addition, it has been suggested that decreases in scapular upward rotation will lead to decreases in the subacromial space and ultimately impingement syndrome.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between acromiohumeral distance and scapular upward rotation in healthy college baseball players.

Change in glenohumeral rotation and scapular position after a Division I collegiate baseball season.

Context: Pathologies such as anterior instability and impingement are common in baseball and have been linked to decreases in internal-rotation (IR) motion and concurrent increases in external-rotation (ER) motion. In addition, alterations to scapular upward rotation have been identified in this population.

Objective: To measure glenohumeral (GH) IR and ER rotation, total range of motion (ROM), and scapular upward rotation throughout the course of a Division I collegiate baseball season.

Neuromuscular and stiffness adaptations in division I collegiate baseball players.

To compare bi-lateral shoulder EMG, active and short range glenohumeral stiffness, and examine its correlation to posterior capsule thickness (PCT) in collegiate baseball players. Surface and fine wire EMG was recorded on shoulder and scapular musculature during stiffness testing. Posterior capsule thickness was assessed separately using a diagnostic ultrasound.

Rotator-cuff muscle-recruitment strategies during shoulder rehabilitation exercises.

Context: There are contradictory data on optimal muscle-activation strategies for restoring shoulder stability. Further investigation of neuromuscular-control strategies for glenohumeral-joint stability will guide clinicians in decisions regarding appropriate rehabilitation exercises.

Objectives: To determine whether subscapularis, infraspinatus, and teres minor (anteroposterior force couple) muscle activation differ between 4 shoulder exercises and describe coactivation ratios and individual muscle-recruitment characteristics of rotator-cuff muscles throughout each shoulder exercise.

Examining neuromuscular control during landings on a supinating platform in persons with and without ankle instability.

Background: Ankle instability is a costly public health concern because of the associated recurrent sprains. It is evident there are neuromuscular control deficits predisposing these individuals to their ankle "giving way." Individuals with a history of lateral ankle sprain, who did not develop instability, may hold the key to understanding proper neuromuscular control after injury.

Humeral retroversion and its association with posterior capsule thickness in collegiate baseball players.

Hypothesis And Background: Baseball players commonly present with decreases in internal rotation (IR) and concurrent increases in external rotation (ER) motion. Several glenohumeral (GH) adaptations have been theorized to cause these changes in motion, including humeral retroversion (HR) and posterior capsule thickness (PCT). However, limited data exist examining the inter-relationship between HR and PCT.

A bilateral comparison of posterior capsule thickness and its correlation with glenohumeral range of motion and scapular upward rotation in collegiate baseball players.

Hypothesis: We hypothesized that posterior capsule thickness (PCT) would be greater on the dominant arm compared to the non-dominant arm. We also hypothesized that PCT would negatively correlate with glenohumeral internal rotation and scapular upward rotation. In addition, PCT would positively correlate with glenohumeral external rotation.

Internal rotation and scapular position differences: a comparison of collegiate and high school baseball players.

Context: Conditions such as labral and rotator cuff injuries have been linked with decreases in glenohumeral internal-rotation and increases in external-rotation motion. Also, decreased glenohumeral internal rotation is strongly associated with scapular dyskinesis.

Objective: To compare healthy collegiate and high school baseball players' glenohumeral joint range of motion and scapular position.

Internal rotation deficits affect scapular positioning in baseball players.

Background: Anecdotal evidence suggests an association between glenohumeral internal rotation deficits (GIRD) and scapular dysfunction, an observable alteration in the normal position or motion of the scapula in relation to the thoracic cage.

Questions/purposes: We therefore hypothesized players with GIRD (15 degrees or greater) will have decreased dominant arm scapular upward rotation and increased scapular protraction compared with baseball players with GIRD (14 degrees or less).

Methods: We studied 43 baseball players with no current shoulder or elbow symptoms; 22 had GIRD 15 degrees or greater and 21 had GIRD 14 degrees or less.

The evaluation of electrodermal properties in the identification of myofascial trigger points.

Objectives: To determine whether skin resistance measurements can objectively identify the location of myofascial trigger points (MTPs) and to differentiate between 3 states.

Design: Static group comparison.

Setting: Climate-controlled laboratory.

The relationship between neurocognitive function and noncontact anterior cruciate ligament injuries.

Background: Biomechanical analyses suggest that the loss of neuromuscular control is associated with noncontact anterior cruciate ligament sprains; however, previous research has not explored the link between neurocognitive function and unintentional knee injuries.

Purpose: To determine if athletes who suffer a noncontact anterior cruciate ligament injury demonstrate decreased baseline neurocognitive performance when compared with matched controls.

Study Design: Case control study; Level of evidence, 3.