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INTRODUCTION: Mirror neurons have been suggested as a potential neural mechanism of observational learning. This study aims to investigate the effect of self-modeling, skilled model, and learning model on mu rhythm suppression and golf putting acquisition and retention. METHODS: The study was conducted on 45 male volunteer students (aged 19.4±0.37 years) in three experimental groups, self-modeling, skilled, and learning models with six sessions of physical and observational training in three periods of pre-test, acquisition, and retention. In the pre-test, after the initial familiarity with the skill, participants performed 10 golf putting actions while scores were recorded. Then, electrical brain waves in C3, C4, and Cz regions were recorded during the observation of 10 golf putting actions by their group-related models. The acquisition period consisted of golf putting training during six sessions, each consisting of six blocks of 10 trials. Before each training block, participants observed golf putting related to their group 10 times in the form of a video. Acquisition and delayed retention tests were also performed by recording scores of 10 golf putting actions, as well as recording electrical brain waves while observing the skill performed by the related model. RESULTS: Mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the mu rhythm suppression in the pre-test was more in the self-modeling group compared to the skilled model and learning model groups, but this suppression was not significantly different in all three groups in the acquisition and retention tests. In putting task variables, all three groups that had no significant difference in the pre-test period made considerable progress in learning the desired skill from the pre-test to the acquisition test, and this progress was somewhat stable until the retention test. Also, both in the acquisition and retention periods, the self-modeling group showed better performance than the other two groups; however, no significant difference was observed between these groups. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the model-observer similarity is a crucial factor in modeling interventions and can affect the rate of mu rhythm suppression.

Research has shown that large visual illusions and an external focus of attention can improve novice's motor learning. However, the combined effects of these approaches and the underlying mechanisms have yet to be studied. Therefore, the present study examined the effects of a large visual illusion and an external focus on the learning of a dart throwing task in novices and measured the perceptual mechanisms underpinning learning using quiet eye. Forty novice participants were randomly divided into four groups: large visual illusion, external focus of attention, combined large visual illusion and external focus of attention, and control group. The study consisted of a pretest, a practice phase, an immediate retention test, a 24-hr retention test, and a transfer test. Results revealed that all groups increased throwing accuracy and quiet eye duration from pretest to immediate retention. In the immediate retention, 24-hr retention, and transfer test, large visual illusion had greater accuracy and longer quiet eye duration than the control group. In addition, there were no significant differences between the visual illusion and external focus groups for throwing accuracy and quiet eye duration. The findings suggest that combining large visual illusion and external focus can independently improve motor learning but combining these manipulations does not have additive benefits.

This study aimed to examine the impact of internal and external audiovisual imagery on the learning of the badminton long serve skill. A lot of 42 right-handed novice women were selected using availability sampling. Participants were categorized into four groups based on their scores from the visual imagery ability questionnaire and Bucknell auditory questionnaire: Visual-Internal imagery, Visual-External imagery, AudioVisual-Internal imagery and AudioVisual-External imagery groups. To generate an auditory pattern, the shoulder joint's angular velocity of a skilled individual was recorded and translated into sound based on frequency characteristic changes. Subjects underwent four sessions of 40 trials each and subsequently participated in retention and transfer tests. Performance accuracy of the badminton long serve was assessed using the Scott and Fox standard test and repeated measures ANOVA was employed to compare performance across groups during test stages. While no significant differences were noted between groups during the acquisition stages, indicated that subjects in the AudioVisual imagery conditions outperformed those in Visual imagery during the retention test. Additionally, the AudioVisual-Internal Imagery group demonstrated superior performance compared to other groups. Internal imagery groups also exhibited better performance in the later stages of acquisition, retention and transfer tests compared to external imagery groups. These findings suggest that the incorporation of audiovisual imagery utilizing movement sonification, alongside physical practice, improves skill development more effectively than visual imagery alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: The effect of physical activity and living in enriched environment on some cognitive mechanisms in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is not yet well understood. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of aerobic training along with enriched environment on spatial memory and brainderived neurotrophic factor in the Hippocampal tissue of elderly female Wistar rats with Alzheimer's disease. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 30 elderly female Wistar rats with twenty-one-monthold and average weight of 260±20 grams were used and divided into 6 groups: control-healthy, Alzheimer's, sham group, Alzheimer's + aerobic exercise (treadmill), Alzheimer's + enriched environment, Alzheimer's + enriched environment + aerobic exercise (treadmill). Rats in the training groups performed two 15-min sessions with 5-minute passive rest at a speed of 10 m/min in the first and second weeks. In the third week, they performed three sessions at a speed of 15 m/min with a 5-min break, and in the fourth week, four sessions per day at a speed of 15 m/min with a 5-min break. In the enriched environment group, the animals were kept in a plexiglass material larger than the standard cage (60 x 50 x 70 cm³). In these cages, devices such as ladders, hollow pipes, wooden blocks and plastic toys were placed. In Alzheimer's groups, rats were anesthetized by intraperitoneal injection of ketamine (80 mg/kg) and xylazine (20 mg/kg). Then, Alzheimer's Aβ was induced by intracerebroventricular injections (10μg/rat). Spatial memory was measured by Morris water maze, barin derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and Trk-B by western blot. In a pilot study in order to evaluate the spatial memory of rats, one week after beta-amyloid injection, all rats were divided into Alzheimer's and control groups. Rats were trained in the maze for four days and the mean percentage permanence in the platform area was recorded. The results of the independent t-test showed that there is a significant difference between the control group and Alzheimer's group (P=0.0152). Therefore, One-way analysis of variance with Tukey's post-hoc test (P<0.05) were used to analyze the data. Results: BDNF increased in all groups significantly (P<0.001), and comparisons between groups were significant except for control vs sham (P=0.27) and Alzheimer's vs Aerobic Alzheimer's (P=0.20) groups. Trk-B increased in all groups and between-group comparisons were significant except for control vs sham (P=0.22), aerobic Alzheimer's vs Alzheimer's enriched environment (P=0.32). However, for spatial memory only between-group comparisons for Alzheimer's vs control (P=0.02), and Alzheimer's vs Alzheimer's + enriched environment + aerobic training (P<0.001) groups were significant. Conclusion: Based on the findings, it can be concluded that aerobic exercise and living in enriched environment can be effective on the spatial memory of elderly Alzheimer's rats through the increase of neurotrophic factors [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postural control is influenced by cognition. In most studies, variability of motor output has been considered regardless of variability in patterns of joint coordination. Uncontrolled manifold framework has been applied to decompose the joint's variance in two components. The first component leaves position of the center of mass in anterior-posterior direction (CoMAP) unchanged (VUCM) while the second component is in charge of variations of CoM (VORT). In this study, 30 healthy young volunteers were recruited. The experimental protocol consisted of three random conditions: quiet standing on a narrow wooden block without a cognitive task (NB), quiet standing on a narrow wooden block with an easy cognitive task (NBE), and quiet standing on a narrow wooden block with a difficult cognitive task (NBD). Results showed that CoMAP sway in NB condition was higher than both NBE and NBD conditions (p =.001). VORT in NB condition was higher than NBE and NBD conditions (p =.003). VORT in NB condition was higher than NBE and NBD conditions (p =.003). VUCM was unchanged in all conditions (p = 1.00) and synergy index in NB condition was smaller than NBE and NBD conditions (p =.006). These results showed that postural synergies increased under dual-task conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The benefits of self-talk on motor performance are well documented. However, there is a gap in the literature on basic research into the mechanisms underlying the performance outcomes of self-talk. The purpose of this study was to determine the neuromuscular mechanisms underlying the effects of instructional and motivational self-talk. Fifteen young females participated in a within-subject counterbalanced design under control, instructional, and motivational self-talk conditions. Surface electromyography (sEMG) was recorded from active (the right biceps and triceps brachii) and passive (the frontalis and left biceps brachii) muscles during reproduction of the elbow flexion angle (90°) in the joint position sense test. The self-talk conditions led to a significantly lower EMG activity of the right biceps muscle, decreased co-contraction ratio of right biceps activity to right triceps activity, and reduced absolute error for the elbow joint position sense compared to the control condition. Also, EMG gradients in the passive muscles were observed in the self-talk conditions but not in the control condition. These findings suggest that attention and motivation are the mechanisms that justify the relationship between self-talk and performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motor learning is a relatively permanent change in motor performance. Also, one of the factors that can affect movement acquisition and movement patterns is pain and injury. The present study aims to investigate the effect of the induced local and remote pain during dart-throwing skill acquisition by examining motor skill accuracy and coordination variability. Three groups of 30 participants with a mean age of 18–25 were randomly assigned to local and remote pain or control groups. Capsaicin gel was applied to the pain groups for measuring the severity of pain using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The results revealed that pain had no impact on dart-throwing skill acquisition, and there was no significant difference (p = 0.732) among the three groups at three stages of retention test. The results also showed that there was a significant difference among the three groups in terms of variability in shoulder-elbow (p = 0.025) and elbow-wrist joints (p = 0.000) in the deceleration and dart-throwing phases. The Central Nervous System seems to make adjustments when the task is associated with pain during the acquisition phase. Also, the groups with or without pain have notably various strategies, so differently, to perceive motor skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on pain are generally conducted for two purposes: first, to study patients with pain who have physical changes due to nerve and muscle lesions, and second, to regain the appropriate kinematic post-pain pattern. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of pain on the coordination variability pattern and throw accuracy. Participants included 30 people with a mean age of 18-25 years who volunteered to participate in the study. Individuals were randomly divided into three groups of local pain, remote pain, and control group. Without pain, participants practiced and acquired skills in 10 blocks of 15 trials. In the retention and transition phase, which were associated with pain, in their respective groups, included 1 hour, 24- hour, and 1- week acquisition; they were re-tested twice in a 15-block trial, which was once with and without pain. The results revealed that pain did not affect the throwing accuracy (p = 0.469). Besides, in the phase of decreasing acceleration in throwing, movement variability pattern in the pain-related groups in the shoulder and elbow joints (p = 0.000), elbow and wrist (p = 0.000), were more than the painless groups. Based on the results, it can be said that the increase in variability in pain-related groups is due to the different strategies and patterns that individuals use to avoid pain. Also, despite the pain, the nervous system attempts to increase the variability find the least painful pattern of movement and reduces this variability over time and using a repetitive pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of the game-based training program on fundamental movement skills (FMS) and working memory (WM) in male children with Down syndrome. Twenty-one children ages 9 to 11 years were assigned to either a Game- Based Training (GBT) or No-Training (NT) group. The GBT group participated in 12 sessions of game-based training, three sessions per week and 45 minutes per session whereas the NT group just performed normal daily activities. TGMD 2–Test was used to evaluate the motor development quality. The results showed that the GBT group performed better than the NT group in locomotor and manipulative skills. In the Corsi Block Task, although the mean scores of the GBT group were better than the NT group, it was not statistically significant. Our result revealed that after the game-based training program, participant’s scores improved in fundamental movement skills, but no significant improvement was observed in the working memory scores. Therefore, these findings support the positive effect of gamebased training on fundamental movement skills in children with Down syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]