Choice of Arm Use in Stroke Survivors is Largely Driven by the Energetic Cost of the Movement.

Neurorehabil Neural Repair

Department of Biomedical Engineering, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, USA.

Published: April 2023

Background: The decision of which arm to use to achieve a goal depends on energetic costs and performance abilities of each arm. Following a stroke, there is a reduction in the use of the more-impaired arm. Is it because the energetic costs of the more-impaired arm are increased, or because its use dictates a lower chance of success?

Objective: We sought to elucidate the impact of energetic cost and task success on the arm choice of stroke survivors.

Methods: Thirteen chronic stroke survivors and thirteen neurologically-intact subjects participated in an experiment where they reached towards visual targets in a virtual-reality environment. Energetic cost of reaching with their less-used arm (nondominant/more-impaired) was adjusted by amplifying the range of motion, while task accuracy requirement was independently modulated by changing target size.

Results: Reducing the energic cost of reaching increased the use of the less-used arms in both groups, but by a greater amount in the stroke survivors. In contrast, lowering task accuracy requirement altered arm choice similarly in the two groups. The time spent in decision-making (reaction time) reflected different impacts of energetic cost and task success on the arm choice of the two groups. Conversely, velocity changes were similar between the groups.

Conclusions: The impact of energetic cost on arm choice of stroke survivors is greater than neurologically-intact subjects. Thus, the reduction in the use of the impaired arm following stroke may be primarily due to a subjective increase in the effort it takes to use that arm.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/15459683231164788DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

energetic cost
20
stroke survivors
16
arm choice
16
arm stroke
12
arm
11
energetic costs
8
more-impaired arm
8
impact energetic
8
cost task
8
task success
8

Similar Publications

Different life histories result in different strategies to allocate energy in biosynthesis, including growth and reproduction, and somatic maintenance. One of the most notable life history differences between and species is that the former grow much faster than the latter, and during metamorphosis, a large amount of tissue in species disintegrates. In this review, using caterpillars and cockroach nymphs as examples, we show that, due to these differences in growth processes, cockroach nymphs spend 20 times more energy on synthesizing one unit of biomass (indirect cost of growth) than butterfly caterpillars.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The interplay between motor cost and self-efficacy related to walking across terrain in gaze and walking decisions.

Sci Rep

December 2024

Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada.

Motor behaviours, like where to step and which path to walk, rely on gaze shifts to gather visual information necessary to decide the next action. Factors influencing both gaze and walking decisions are poorly understood. Here we had people choose between two paths to determine how a person's belief in their ability to walk across different terrains (i.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The high abundance of acetone ((CH)C═O), which makes it a good candidate for oxygenated molecules, and the high reactivity of oxygen atoms in the first excited state O(D) are two well-known facts in the chemistry of the atmosphere. In this research, we prove that the singlet oxygen and acetone system is capable of proceeding through multiwell multipath reactions, leading to the production of several organic aerosols. Hence, the nature of species released by the (CH)C═O + O(D) reaction to air can be clarified by profound attention to the possible routes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Running performance in Australopithecus afarensis.

Curr Biol

January 2025

School of Natural Sciences, University of Manchester, Michael Smith Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT, UK.

The evolution of bipedal gait is a key adaptive feature in hominids, but the running abilities of early hominins have not been extensively studied. Here, we present physics simulations of Australopithecus afarensis that demonstrate this genus was mechanically capable of bipedal running but with absolute and relative (size-normalized) maximum speeds considerably inferior to modern humans. Simulations predicted running energetics for Australopithecus that are generally consistent with values for mammals and birds of similar body size, therefore suggesting relatively low cost of transport across a limited speed range.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Four new and one previously reported silver 4,4'-vinylenedipyridine (Vpe) coordination polymers were tested as anion exchange materials to assess their potential for pollutant sequestration and compared to analogous silver 4,4'-bipyridine (bipy) coordination polymers. The materials were synthesized using nitrate, tetrafluoroborate, perchlorate, perrhenate, or chromate as the anion to produce cationic coordination polymers with solubilities ranging from 0.0137(7) to 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!