The effects of stereotype threat on older adults' walking performance as a function of task difficulty and resource evaluations.

Stereotype threat occurs when people are concerned about confirming a negative stereotype about their social group, and this often leads people to underperform within the threatened domain. Although this is well-documented, the majority of prior studies examining stereotype threat in older adults have focused on cognitive outcomes and comparatively less research has focused on how stereotype threat affects physical outcomes. In this study, we examined whether negative age-based evaluations invoke stereotype threat and adversely affect older adults' gait, and whether this depends upon the difficulty of the gait task and upon participants' evaluations of their own resources to cope with the demands of the gait task.

Older adult Alexander Technique practitioners walk differently than healthy age-matched controls.

The Alexander Technique (AT) seeks to eliminate harmful patterns of tension that interfere with the control of posture and movement and in doing so, it may serve as a viable intervention method for increasing gait efficacy in older adults. The purpose of this study was to compare the comfortable pace gait kinematics of older AT practitioners with those of healthy, age-matched controls. Participants were six licensed AT practitioners and seven healthy age-matched controls between the ages of 61-76.

Effects of support surface and optic flow on step-like movements in pre-crawling and crawling infants.

Step-like movements were examined in pre-crawling (n=9) and crawling (n=9) 6-13 month-old infants in the air and on a surface in response to a static pattern or optic flows that moved toward or away from the infant. Infants completed six 60-s trials. A significant interaction between locomotor status and support condition revealed that pre-crawling infants made more step-like movements in the air than on a rigid surface.

Effects of Alexander Technique training experience on gait behavior in older adults.

Heightened fall risk, potentially caused by aging-related changes in gait, is a serious health issue faced by older adults. The Alexander Technique is thought to improve balance and motor function; however, the technique's effect on gait has not been studied. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of Alexander Technique training in older adults on the temporospatial characteristics of gait and medio-lateral center of mass displacement during fast and comfortably paced over-ground walking.

Location of minimum foot clearance on the shoe and with respect to the obstacle changes with locomotor task.

Minimum foot clearance (MFC) as it relates to trips and falls has been extensively studied across many locomotor tasks, but examination of this body of research yields several studies with conflicting results and a wide range of MFCs within tasks. While there are several factors that may affect the MFC variability across studies (populations studied, environmental conditions, etc.), one aspect of the discrepancies in the literature may be the result of different placements of shoe markers and/or MFC calculation methods.

Kicking performance in relation to balance ability over the support leg.

Balance control is presumed to be a fundamental constraint on the organization of skilled movement. The current experiment explored whether single-leg balance ability predicted kicking performance on the other leg. Thirty-eight participants ranging widely in skill kicked a soccer ball with the right and left legs for maximum accuracy and velocity and performed single-leg balance on a force plate for 30 s with the right and left legs.

Stability of kyphosis, strength, and physical performance gains 1 year after a group exercise program in community-dwelling hyperkyphotic older women.

Objective: To determine if subjects maintained improvements in kyphosis, spinal extensor strength, and physical performance 1 year after a 12-week multidimensional group exercise program.

Design: Follow-up data compared with posttest outcome measures.

Setting: Outpatient academic medical center.

Quantitative and clinical description of postural instability in women with breast cancer treated with taxane chemotherapy.

Objective: To describe the postural control of women who received taxane chemotherapy for treatment of breast cancer using quantitative and clinically feasible measures.

Design: Prospective descriptive study.

Setting: University-based comprehensive cancer center.

Changes in flexed posture, musculoskeletal impairments, and physical performance after group exercise in community-dwelling older women.

Objective: To determine whether improvements in flexed posture, strength, range of motion (ROM), and physical performance would be observed after 12 weeks of group exercise in older women who because of age are prone to flexed posture and impaired physical function.

Design: Pretest-posttest of outcome measures.

Setting: Outpatient academic medical center.

Case report: painful peripheral neuropathy following treatment with docetaxel for breast cancer.

Peripheral neuropathy is a common side effect of many chemotherapy agents. As many as 60% of patients receiving taxane therapy report symptoms such as numbness, tingling, burning, pain, and, in severe cases, weakness in a stocking and glove pattern. These symptoms are associated with problems in physical mobility and decreased quality of life, yet few articles in the literature discuss collaborative interdisciplinary assessment and treatment of this population.