Search

For children with moderate or severe cerebral palsy (CP), a foundational early goal is independent sitting. Sitting offers additional opportunities for object exploration, play and social engagement. The achievement of sitting coincides with important milestones in other developmental areas, such as social engagement with others, understanding of spatial relationships, and the use of both hands to explore objects. These milestones are essential skills necessary for play behavior. However, little is known about how sitting and play behavior might be affected by a physical therapy intervention in children with moderate or severe CP. Purpose: Therefore, our overall purpose in this study was to determine if sitting skill could be advanced in children with moderate to severe CP using a perceptual motor intervention, and if play skills would change significantly as sitting advanced. Methods: Thirty children between the ages of 18 months and 6 years who were able to hold prop sitting for at least 10 s were recruited for this study. Outcome measures were the sitting subsection of the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM), and the Play Assessment of Children with Motor Impairment play assessment scale, which is a modified version of the Play in Early Childhood Evaluation System. Results: Significant improvements in GMFM sitting scores (p < 0.001) and marginally significant improvement in play assessment scores (p = 0.067) were found from pre- to post-intervention. Sitting change explained a significant portion of the variance in play change for children over the age of 3 years, who were more severely affected by CP. Implications: The results of this study indicate that advances in sitting skill may be a factor in supporting improvements in functional play, along with age and severity of physical impairment.

Temporal structure reveals the potential adaptive strategies employed during upper extremity movements. The authors compared the temporal structure of upper extremity joints under 3 different reaching conditions: preferred speed, fast speed, and reaching with rhythmic auditory cues in 10 individuals poststroke. They also investigated the temporal structure of these 3 reaching conditions in 8 healthy controls to aid in the interpretation of the observed patterns in the poststroke cohort. Approximate entropy (ApEn) was used to measure the temporal structure of the upper extremity joints. ApEn was similar between conditions in controls. After stroke, ApEn was significantly higher for shoulder, elbow, and wrist both at fast speed and with rhythmic cues compared with preferred speed. ApEn at index finger was significantly higher only with rhythmic cues compared with preferred speed. The authors propose that practice reaching at faster speed and with rhythmic cues as a component of rehabilitation interventions may enhance adaptability after stroke.

This essay delves into the intricate relationship between biomechanics and motor control, exploring their historical evolution and close interdependence. From the foundational works of Aristotle to the contemporary advancements achieved by esteemed members of the National Academy of Kinesiology, we describe the impactful contributions of both past and present National Academy of Kinesiology figures in the realms of motor control and biomechanics. A key theme throughout the essay is the recognition of the fundamental influence of natural laws on movement and the fundamental role of variability in unifying the realms of biomechanics and motor control. Looking ahead, we emphasize the transformative potential of strong inference as a guiding principle for substantive research in both fields, illustrating its application through our investigative endeavors. By uniting biomechanics and motor control through interdisciplinary collaboration, this pursuit of knowledge holds the promise of reshaping our comprehension of human movement and performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physiological processes present daily oscillations of ≈24 h, called circadian rhythms. Motor performance, for example, reaches its peak in the afternoon, although this can be affected by chronotype. Certain motor activities, for example, walking, can also be affected by circadian rhythms. Healthy walking exhibits stride‐to‐stride fluctuations with a fractal‐like structure that enables adaptability. While pathology and aging are shown to lead to random‐like fluctuations; and, therefore, decreased adaptability; the influence of circadian rhythms remains unknown. This study investigates how these fluctuations present in healthy gait are affected by the time of day and chronotype. Eighteen young adults walk for 10 min every 2 h, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Footswitches are used to determine heel‐strike and calculate stride time. Then, detrended fluctuation analysis is used to calculate fractal scaling. A mixed‐model Analysis of Variance is used and followed by a backward stepwise elimination process. Tukey's tests are used for pairwise comparisons. The statistical model shows the effect of time during the day (12 p.m. exhibits a higher fractal scaling compared to 8 a.m.); and chronotype (evening‐types exhibit higher fractal scaling compared to morning‐types). This study reveals the influence of chronobiology on stride‐to‐stride fluctuations. These findings open new perspectives to integrate circadian medicine in biomechanics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]