Comparing two relaxation procedures to ease fatigue in multiple sclerosis: a single-blind randomized controlled trial.

Background: Various relaxation procedures have been proposed to reduce fatigue in multiple sclerosis (MS). However, it is unknown, which type of relaxation has the largest effect on fatigue reduction and on autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity.

Objective: We aimed to compare two biofeedback-supported relaxation exercises: a deep breathing (DB) exercise and progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), which may ameliorate MS fatigue and alter ANS activity.

Functional neurological symptoms are a frequent and relevant comorbidity in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Introduction: Functional neurological symptoms (FNS) in multiple sclerosis (MS) have shown to be underinvestigated even though neurological diseases such as MS represent a risk factor for developing FNS. Comorbidity of FNS and MS can produce high personal and social costs since FNS patients have high healthcare utilization costs and a quality of life at least as impaired as in patients with disorders with underlying structural pathology. This study aims to assess comorbid FNS in patients with MS (pwMS) and investigate whether FNS in pwMS are associated with poorer health-related quality of life and work ability.

Association of blood lipids with onset and prognosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: results from the ALS Swabia registry.

Background: To date, the role of blood lipid levels and their association with the onset and prognosis of ALS is controversial. We explored these associations in a large, population-based case-control study.

Methods: Between October 2010 and June 2014, 336 ALS patients (mean age 65.

Prominent Fatigue but No Motor Fatigability in Non-Hospitalized Patients With Post-COVID-Syndrome.

Objectives: Fatigue is a frequent and often disabling symptom in patients with post-COVID syndrome. To better understand and evaluate the symptom of motor fatigue in the context of the post-COVID syndrome, we conducted treadmill walking tests to detect the phenomenon of motor fatigability or to evaluate whether evidence of organic lesions of the motor system could be found, similar to patients with multiple sclerosis.

Method: Twenty-nine non-hospitalized patients with post-COVID syndrome completed the Fatigue Scale for Motor and Cognitive Function (FSMC) questionnaire to determine the trait component of subjective fatigue before they were tested on a treadmill walking at a moderate speed for up to 60 min or until exhaustion.

Experiences of persons with multiple sclerosis with rehabilitation-a qualitative interview study.

Background: Managing multiple sclerosis (MS) includes different treatment approaches. Rehabilitation is a key strategy in MS for improving functioning, activity and participation. As part of a larger study on overall patient experiences with different treatment approaches, this study aims to give an overview of different patients' experiences and perspectives on inpatient rehabilitation in MS.

Instrumented Assessment of Motor Performance Fatigability During the 6-Min Walk Test in Mildly Affected People With Multiple Sclerosis.

There are conflicting results regarding the changes in spatio-temporal gait parameters during the 6-min walk test (6MWT) as indicators of gait-related motor performance fatigability (PF) in people with Multiple Sclerosis (pwMS). To further analyze if gait-related motor PF can be quantified using instrumented gait analysis during the 6MWT, we investigated: (i) whether gait parameters recorded during the first or second minute were more stable and thus the better baseline to assess motor PF and (ii) if the minimum toe clearance (MTC) together with "classical" spatio-temporal gait parameters can be used to quantify motor PF in pwMS. Nineteen mildly affected pwMS [12 women/7 men; 47.

Effects of a 6-Min Treadmill Walking Test on Dual-Task Gait Performance and Prefrontal Hemodynamics in People With Multiple Sclerosis.

Unlabelled: Fatigue is one of the most limiting symptoms in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) and can be subdivided into trait and state fatigue. Activity-induced state fatigue describes the temporary decline in motor and/or cognitive performance (motor and cognitive performance fatigability, respectively) and/or the increase in the perception of fatigue (perceived fatigability) in response to motor or cognitive tasks. To the best of our knowledge, the effects of a 6-min walk test (6MWT), which was often used to assess motor performance fatigability in pwMS, on motor-cognitive dual-task performance (i.

Reaching higher: External scapula assistance can improve upper limb function in humans with irreversible scapula alata.

Background: Scapular dyskinesis, i.e., the deviant mobility or function of the scapula, hampers upper limb function in daily life.

Cognitive Fatigability, not Fatigue predicts employment status in patients with MS three months after rehabilitation.

Background: Fatigue is potentially the most important factor causing unemployment in people with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS). Widely accepted is a discrimination between fatigue as subjective sensation and fatigability as objective measure of change in performance. The aim of this study was to identify, whether cognitive fatigue or cognitive fatigability is a better predictor for employment status three months after discharge from a neurological rehabilitation center.

Association of Fatigue Severity With Maladaptive Coping in Multiple Sclerosis: A Data-Driven Psychodynamic Perspective.

Fatigue in persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) is severely disabling. However, the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Recent research suggests a link to early childhood adversities and psychological trait variables.

The Role of Perceived Energy and Self-Beliefs for Physical Activity and Sports Activity of Patients With Multiple Sclerosis and Chronic Stroke.

Physical activity counteracts some of the negative consequences associated with chronic neurological diseases. Here, we describe the levels of physical activity (PA) and sports activity (Sport) in patients with multiple sclerosis (pMS, = 59) and chronic stroke (pStroke, = 67) and test compliance with the recommendation for health-promoting physical activity of the World-Health Organization (WHO). Secondly, we tested for differences between the groups of patients, and thirdly, we examined relationships between PA and Sport with psychological indicators of perceived energy (fatigue and vitality) and self-beliefs (self-efficacy and self-control).

Fatigue in Multiple Sclerosis Is Associated With Childhood Adversities.

Fatigue is a common and disabling symptom in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS). Its pathogenesis, however, is still not fully understood. Potential psychological roots, in particular, have received little attention to date.

The relation between memory and decision-making in multiple sclerosis patients.

Background: Impairments in long-term and working memory are widespread in Multiple Sclerosis (MS), setting on in early disease stages. These memory impairments may limit patients' ability to take informed and competent medical decisions, too. In healthy populations, memory abilities predict decision quality across a wide range of tasks.

Cortical, subcortical and spinal neural correlates of slackline training-induced balance performance improvements.

Humans develop posture and balance control during childhood. Interestingly, adults can also learn to master new complex balance tasks, but the underlying neural mechanisms are not fully understood yet. Here, we combined broad scale brain connectivity fMRI at rest and spinal excitability measurements during movement.

Trait Self-Control Outperforms Trait Fatigue in Predicting MS Patients' Cortical and Perceptual Responses to an Exhaustive Task.

Patients with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) frequently suffer from fatigue, but this debilitating symptom is not yet fully understood. We propose that self-control can be conceptually and mechanistically linked to the fatigue concept and might help explain some of the diversity on how PwMS who suffer from fatigue deal with this symptom. To test this claim, we first assessed how cortical oxygenation and measures of motor and cognitive state fatigue change during a strenuous physical task, and then we tested the predictive validity of trait fatigue and trait self-control in explaining the observed changes.

[Formula: see text] Limb apraxia profiles in different clinical samples.

: Limb apraxia is a motor cognitive disorder that has been mainly studied in patients with dementia or left hemisphere stroke (LHS). However, limb apraxia has also been reported in patients with right hemisphere stroke (RHS), multiple sclerosis (MS) or traumatic brain injury (TBI). This study's aim was to report detailed praxis performance profiles in samples suffering from these different neurological disorders by use of the Diagnostic Instrument for Limb Apraxia (DILA-S).

Exercise in Multiple Sclerosis: Knowing is Not Enough-The Crucial Role of Intention Formation and Intention Realization.

A large body of evidence supports the notion that patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) benefit from physical exercise. However, this research-based recommendation has been insufficiently translated into practice. In this commentary article, we highlight the psychological evidence for the intention-behaviour gap and discuss evidence-based recommendations for bridging this gap, with the aim to change behaviour in MS patients.

Is the Limit-Cycle-Attractor an (almost) invariable characteristic in human walking?

Background: Common methods of gait analyses measure step length/width, gait velocity and gait variability to name just a few. Those parameters tend to be changing with fitness and skill of the subjects. But, do stable subject characteristic parameters in walking exist? Does the Limit-Cycle-Attractor qualify as such a parameter?.

Neural correlates of effort-dependent and effort-independent cognitive fatigue components in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Background: Among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), fatigue is the most commonly reported symptom. It can be subdivided into an effort-dependent (fatigability) and an effort-independent component (trait-fatigue).

Objective: The objective was to disentangle activity changes associated with effort-independent "trait-fatigue" from those associated with effort-dependent fatigability in MS patients.

Making if-then plans counteracts learned non-use in stroke patients: A proof-of-principle study.

Background: After stroke, the learned non-use of a paretic arm is a major obstacle to the improvement of hand function.

Objective: We examined whether patients with a central paresis could profit from applying the self-regulation strategy of making if-then plans that specify situational triggers to using the paretic arm.

Method: Seventeen stroke patients with a mild to moderate hand paresis were asked to perform a Simon task which is commonly used to study the enhanced executive control needed when there is a mismatch between stimulus (e.

Motor Imagery Impairment in Postacute Stroke Patients.

Not much is known about how well stroke patients are able to perform motor imagery (MI) and which MI abilities are preserved after stroke. We therefore applied three different MI tasks (one mental chronometry task, one mental rotation task, and one EEG-based neurofeedback task) to a sample of postacute stroke patients ( = 20) and age-matched healthy controls ( = 20) for addressing the following questions: First, which of the MI tasks indicate impairment in stroke patients and are impairments restricted to the paretic side? Second, is there a relationship between MI impairment and sensory loss or paresis severity? And third, do the results of the different MI tasks converge? Significant differences between the stroke and control groups were found in all three MI tasks. However, only the mental chronometry task and EEG analysis revealed paresis side-specific effects.

Fatigue in Multiple Sclerosis Compared to Stroke.

Objectives: Fatigue is typically associated with multiple sclerosis (MS), but recent studies suggest that it is also a problem for patients with stroke. While a direct comparison of fatigue in, e.g.

Impact of left versus right hemisphere subcortical stroke on the neural processing of action observation and imagery.

Purpose: Mental training appears to be an attractive tool in stroke rehabilitation. The objective of this study was to investigate whether any differences in the processing of action observation and imagery might exist between patients with left and right hemisphere subcortical strokes.

Methods: Eighteen patients with strictly subcortical stroke (nine right-hemispheric) underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study with an experimental paradigm in which motor acts had to be observed and/or imagined from a first person perspective.