The effects of different attentional focus on poststroke gait.

Attention may influence the motor performance of poststroke patients. The attentional focus implies "where" attention is focused while performing a specific movement. Focusing attention on the inside of the body while performing a specific exercise is called an internal focus (IF) and focus on the external environment is called an external focus (EF).

Reliability analysis of the Korean version of the trunk control measurement scale in cerebral palsy.

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to translate the Trunk Control Measurement Scale into a Korean version and to analyze the intra- and inter-rater reliability. [Subjects and Methods] Fifteen children with spastic cerebral palsy and four physical therapists with over 10 years of clinical experience participated in this study. A Korean-American physical therapist translated the trunk control measurement scale from English into a Korean version.

Effects of seat surface inclination on respiration and speech production in children with spastic cerebral palsy.

Background: Respiratory and speech problems are commonly observed in children with cerebral palsy (CP). The purpose of this study was to identify if inclination of seat surface could influence respiratory ability and speech production in children with spastic diplegic CP.

Methods: Sixteen children with spastic diplegic CP, ages 6 to 12 years old, participated in this study.

Cortical effect and functional recovery by the electromyography-triggered neuromuscular stimulation in chronic stroke patients.

We investigated the effect of electromyography (EMG)-triggered neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES; EMG-stim) on functional recovery of the hemiparetic hand and the related cortical activation pattern in chronic stroke patients. We enrolled 14 stroke patients, who were randomly assigned to the EMG-stim (n=7) or the control groups (n=7). The EMG-stim was applied to the wrist extensor of the EMG-stim group for two sessions (30 min/session) a day, five times per week for 10 weeks.

Cortical activation changes induced by visual biofeedback tracking training in chronic stroke patients.

Objectives: We tried to examine whether visual biofeedback tracking training (VBTT) can improve both the gait performance and cortical activation pattern in chronic stroke patients.

Design: We enrolled 10 chronic hemiparetic patients with stroke(mean age 46.3 +/- 5.

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibition by cilostazol is implicated in the neuroprotective effect against focal cerebral ischemic infarct in rat.

This study shows that cilostazol displayed a potent inhibition of PARP with IC(50) of 883+/-41 nM in the enzyme assay, and also significantly reversed H(2)O(2)-evoked elevated PARP activity and reduced NAD(+) levels in the PC12 cells with improvement of cell viability. In in vivo study, inhibition of PARP activity by cilostazol prevented cerebral ischemic injury induced by 2-h middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and 24-h reperfusion. The ischemic infarct was significantly reduced in the rats that received cilostazol (30 mg/kg, twice orally) with improvement of neurological function.

Quantitative EMG changes during 12-week DeLorme's axiom strength training.

Strength training is one of the most common exercises practiced in the field of physical therapy or sports training. However, limited methodology is available to evaluate its effect on the target muscle. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that surface electromyographic (EMG) data from both isometric and isotonic exercise can express changes within the muscle during a 12-week strength training program.