RESUMO
Introduction: Motor skills play an important role during life span, and older adults need to learn or relearn these skills. The purpose of this study was to investigate how aging affects induction of improved movement performance by motor training
Methods: Serial Reaction Time Test [SRTT] was used to assess movement performance during 8 blocks of motor training. Participants were tested in two separate dates, 48 hours apart. First session included 8 blocks of training [blocks 1-8] and second session comprised 2 blocks [blocks 9, 10]
Results: Analyses of data showed that reaction times in both online and offline learning were significantly shorter in older adults compared to younger adults [P<0.001]. Young adults demonstrated both online and offline learning [P<0.001], but older adults only showed online learning [P<0.001] without offline learning [P=0.24]
Discussion: The result of the current study provides evidence that the healthy older adults are able to improve their performance with practice and learn motor skill successfully in the form of online learning
RESUMO
Purpose: LBP is one of the most common health issues throughout the world and has multiple causes which one of them is the defect in motor patterns. This study compared the effectiveness of stability, general and mixed exercises on the electromyographic activity of ipsilateral erector spinae muscle [IES], contralateral erector spinae muscle [CES], gluteus maximus [GM] and medial hamstring [MH] during prone hip extension [PHE] in patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain [NSCLBP]
Methods: The study used an interventional quasi-experimental design. Thirty patients with NSCLBP between the ages of 20 to 40 years were randomly divided into 3 groups [each with ten patients] including stability, general and mixed groups. The study was conducted in Spring and Summer of 2014 in Amir Physical Clinic in Isfahan. MVEA of the muscles was measured using surface electromyography [EMG] prior and after exercises during PHE. Exercises were done for 10 sessions and 3 times per week. The obtained data by SPSS [version 22] and using the Kolmogorov- Smirnov test, Independent t-test Paired t test and ANCOVA were analyzed
Results: MVEA of GM [P=0.036] significantly increased in the group who practiced with mixed4exercises. Also the exercises decreased MVEA of IES MH and CES. Besides, this decrease for IES [P=0.024] was significant but for MH [P=0.973] and CES [P=0.111] were not. However, the4statistical results did not show any significance among any two and or all three groups
Conclusion: The findings of this study revealed that mixed exercises are more effective than stability and general exercises on the EMG activity of lumbo- pelvic muscles and could alter the electrical activity pattern of these muscles
RESUMO
Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation [a-tDCS] of the primary motor cortex [M1] has been shown to be effective in increasing corticomotor excitability. We investigated whether longer applications of a-tDCS coincide with greater increases in corticomotor excitability compared to shorter application of a-tDCS. Ten right-handed healthy participants received one session of a-tDCS [1mA current] with shorter [10 min] and longer [10+10 min] stimulation durations applied to the left m1 of extensor carpi radialis muscle [ECR]. Corticomotor excitability following application of a-tDCS was assessed at rest with transcranial magnetic stimulation [TMS] elicited motor evoked potentials [MEP] and compared with baseline data for each participant. MEP amplitudes were increased following 10 min of a-tDCS by 67% [p=0.001] with a further increase [32%] after the second 10 min of a-tDCS [p =0.005]. MEP amplitudes remained elevated at 15 min post stimulation compared to baseline values by 65% [p=0.02]. The results demonstrate that longer application of a-tDCS within the recommended safety limits, increases corticomotor excitability with after effects of up to 15 minutes post stimulation