Fast walking under cognitive-motor interference conditions in chronic stroke.

Gait in stroke patients is often characterised by slower speeds, which may be exacerbated by situations that combine gait with a cognitive task, leading to difficulties with everyday activities. Interaction between cognitive task performance and gait speed may differ according to walking intensity. This study examines the effects of two cognitive tasks on gait at preferred walking pace, and at a faster pace, using dual-task methodology.

Brain activity changes associated with treadmill training after stroke.

Background And Purpose: The mechanisms underlying motor recovery after stroke are not fully understood. Several studies used functional MRI longitudinally to relate brain activity changes with performance gains of the upper limb after therapy, but research into training-induced recovery of lower limb function has been relatively neglected thus far.

Methods: We investigated functional reorganization after 4 weeks of treadmill training with partial body weight support in 18 chronic patients (mean age, 59.

IMU: inertial sensing of vertical CoM movement.

The purpose of this study was to use a quaternion rotation matrix in combination with an integration approach to transform translatory accelerations of the centre of mass (CoM) from an inertial measurement unit (IMU) during walking, from the object system onto the global frame. Second, this paper utilises double integration to determine the relative change in position of the CoM from the vertical acceleration data. Five participants were tested in which an IMU, consisting of accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers was attached on the lower spine estimated centre of mass.

Starting out i learned why it is important to adopt a family approach to care.

During morning handover on the medical cardiology ward I was told that a new patient, Liz, had been admitted with post-partum cardiomyopathy after giving birth to her first child.

Pedometer step counts in individuals with neurological conditions.

Objective: To examine the accuracy of measuring step counts using a pedometer in participants with neurological conditions and healthy volunteers in relation to a manual step count tally.

Setting: Oxford Centre for Enablement, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust, Oxford, UK.

Subjects: Healthy adults (n = 13, age: mean 29, SD = 12) and adults with neurological conditions (n=20 stroke, n=16 multiple sclerosis, n=5 muscular dystrophy, n=1 spinal cord injury, n=1 traumatic brain injury; age: mean 54, SD=13).

Mental techniques during manual stretching in spasticity--a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and effects of using motor imagery during therapeutic stretching in individuals with spasticity.

Design: Randomized single-blind controlled pilot trial.

Setting: Chronic day care unit, neurological rehabilitation unit and in the community.

The effects of stretching in spasticity: a systematic review.

Objectives: To investigate the general effect of stretching on spasticity and to explore the complexity of stretching in patients with spasticity.

Data Sources: Two researchers independently performed a systematic literature search using the databases: Medline, PEDro, Cochrane library, Web of Science, CINAHL, and Allied and Complementary Medicine.

Study Selection: Studies on adults receiving a stretching technique to reduce spasticity were included.

Functional MRI correlates of lower limb function in stroke victims with gait impairment.

Background And Purpose: Although knowledge concerning cortical reorganization related to upper limb function after ischemic stroke is growing, similar data for lower limb movements are limited. Previous studies with hand movement suggested increasing recruitment of motor areas in the unlesioned hemisphere with increasing disability. We used ankle movement as a lower limb analog to test for similarities and differences in recovery patterns.

Relationships between muscle fatigue characteristics and markers of endurance performance.

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship of a range of in-vivo whole muscle characteristics to determinants of endurance performance. Eleven healthy males completed a cycle ergometer step test to exhaustion for the determination of the lactate threshold, gross mechanical efficiency, peak power and VO2max. On two separate occasions, contractile and fatigue characteristics of the quadriceps femoris were collected using a specially designed isometric strength-testing chair.

Walking performance and its recovery in chronic stroke in relation to extent of lesion overlap with the descending motor tract.

We investigated the association between the degree of lesion overlap with the corticospinal tract and walking performance before and after 4-weeks of partial body weight support (PBWS) treadmill training in 18 individuals (ten male, eight female) with a mean age 59 +/- 13 years (mean +/- SD), range 32-74 years, who were ambulant and 6 months from a subcortical ischaemic stroke. Lesion volumes were manually defined on high resolution T1-weighted 3T-MRI scans and a probabilistic map of the corticospinal tract created using diffusion tensor imaging data collected previously in healthy subjects. The percentage overlap between the lesion and the corticospinal tract was calculated for each patient.

Can aerobic treadmill training reduce the effort of walking and fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis: a pilot study.

Impaired mobility in multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with high-energy costs and effort when walking, gait abnormalities, poor endurance and fatigue. This repeated measures trial with blinded assessments investigated the effect of treadmill walking at an aerobic training intensity in 16 adults with MS. The intervention consisted of 12 sessions of up to 30 minutes treadmill training (TT), at 55-85% of age-predicted maximum heart rate.

Anomalous centre of mass energy fluctuations during treadmill walking in healthy individuals.

Motorised treadmills are used to research and rehabilitate gait despite conflicting evidence that treadmill ambulation is equivalent to ground walking. It has been suggested that no mechanical differences should exist between these environments but there is little evidence to support this. During ground walking, the whole body centre of mass (COM) acts like an inverted pendulum recovering energy, thereby reducing the effort of locomotion.

Exertional symptoms and exercise capacity in individuals with brain injury.

Purpose: To examine factors affecting cycling exercise performance in individuals with acquired brain injury.

Methods: Thirty individuals with acquired brain injury and 18 sedentary controls (SC) participated. Heart rate, bicycle power output and rating of perceived exertional (RPE) were recorded, throughout incremental cycle ergometer exercise.

A pilot randomised controlled trial of a home-based exercise programme aimed at improving endurance and function in adults with neuromuscular disorders.

Aim: To investigate the feasibility and effect of a home-based exercise programme on walking endurance, muscle strength, fatigue and function in people with neuromuscular disorders (NMDs).

Methods: 20 adults with NMDs recruited to a control (n = 11) or exercise (n = 9) group were assessed by blinded assessors at baseline and at week 8. Walking and strengthening exercises were given to the exercise group in an 8-week home exercise programme.

Treadmill training for individuals with multiple sclerosis: a pilot randomised trial.

This pilot study investigated whether 4 weeks of aerobic treadmill training in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) improved mobility and reduced fatigue. Individuals with MS were recruited to this prospective, randomised controlled trial. Individuals were assessed at baseline, week 7 and 12 with a 10 metre timed walk, a 2 minute walk, the Rivermead Mobility Index, and the Fatigue Severity Scale.

Specialist nurse supported discharge in gynaecology: a randomised comparison and economic evaluation.

Aim: To determine the effect on quality of life and cost effectiveness of specialist nurse early supported discharge for women undergoing major abdominal and/or pelvic surgery for benign gynaecological disease compared with routine care.

Study Design: Randomised controlled trial comparing specialist nurse supported discharge with routine hospital care in gynaecology. The SF-36, a generic health status questionnaire, was used to measure women's evaluation of their health state before surgery and at 6 weeks after surgery.

Oxygen cost during treadmill walking with hip and knee immobilised.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of immobilising the knee and hip on the oxygen cost (ml·kg(-1)·min(-1)) to velocity relationship during treadmill walking. The study was a prospective experimental conducted in a Rehabilitation centre. Ten healthy individuals, five men and five women, with no gait abnormality participated.

A pilot study to investigate explosive leg extensor power and walking performance after stroke.

We examined explosive leg extensor power (LEP) and gait in men and women after a stroke using an experimental observational design. A convenience sample of consecutively referred individuals (8 men, 6 women) with chronic stroke mean age ± SD, range, 46.4 ± 8.

Borg's rating of perceived exertion scales: do the verbal anchors mean the same for different clinical groups?

Objective: To examine the interpretation of the verbal anchors used in the Borg rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scales in different clinical groups and a healthy control group.

Design: Prospective experimental study.

Setting: Rehabilitation center.

The quiet revolution.

Sixty years have passed since Avery, MacLeod and McCarty published their landmark paper revealing DNA as the genetic material, writes Heather Dawes.

Measuring oxygen cost during level walking in individuals with acquired brain injury in the clinical setting.

This study examined the test-retest reliability of oxygen cost (ml·kg(-1)·min(-1)) during level walking in individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI). Ten individuals with ABI (5 men, 5 women) (Traumatic brain injury, 1, central pontine myelinolysis, 1, stroke 8) and 21 healthy controls (11 men, 10 women). Measurements of gross and net (walking minus resting) oxygen consumption (ml·kg(-1)·min(-1)), and oxygen cost (ml·kg(-1)·min(-1)) during level walking at self-selected speeds.

Evaluation of the Modified Jebsen Test of Hand Function and the University of Maryland Arm Questionnaire for Stroke.

Objective: To examine the concurrent validity and test-retest reliability of the Modified Jebsen Test of Hand Function (MJT) and the University of Maryland Arm Questionnaire for Stroke (UMAQS).

Design: Individuals with acquired neurological disorders were retested within an average of 9.6 days after the first assessment.

Perceived and measured levels of exertion of patients with chronic back pain exercising in a hydrotherapy pool.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of using ratings of perceived exertion (RPEs) to regulate exercise intensity for patients with chronic back pain while they undergo hydrotherapy.

Design: Experimental study.

Setting: Hydrotherapy pool in the United Kingdom.