The capacity to learn new motor and perceptual calibrations develops concurrently in childhood.

Learning new movements through an error-based process called motor adaptation is thought to involve multiple mechanisms which are still largely not understood. Previous studies have shown that young children adapt movement more slowly than adults, perhaps supporting the involvement of distinct neural circuits that come online at different stages of development. Recent studies in adults have shown that in addition to recalibrating a movement, motor adaptation also leads to changes in the perception of that movement. However, we do not yet understand the relationship between the processes that underlie motor and perceptual recalibration. Here we studied motor and perceptual recalibration with split-belt walking adaptation in adults and children aged 6-8 years. Consistent with previous work, we found that this group of children adapted their walking patterns more slowly than adults, though individual children ranged from slow to adult-like in their adaptation rates. Perceptual recalibration was also reduced in the same group of children compared to adults, with individual children ranging from having no recalibration to having adult-like recalibration. In sum, faster motor adaptation and the ability to recalibrate movement perception both come online within a similar age-range, raising the possibility that the same sensorimotor mechanisms underlie these processes.

Impact of an International Service Learning Experience in India for DPT Students: Short- and Long-Term Benefits.

PURPOSE: Awareness of global issues and cultural competence are essential for health professions students. Educational programs utilize International Service Learning (ISL) to address global issues and diverse cultures. This study describes short- and long-term benefits of ISL on Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students. PROCEDURES: The ISL included study of Ayurveda, clinical service, collaborative learning, and cultural activities. A mixed-methods design included the Cross Cultural Adaptability Index (CCAI) administered to 14 students pre- and post-ISL and qualitative analysis of reflective papers. Interviews of participants were completed 2 to 3 years later. FINDINGS: Overall CCAI scores showed a statistically significant difference of 0.001 (p<0.01) pre and post ISL. Three subscales also showed a statistically significant difference (p<0.01). Qualitative analysis of reflective papers revealed three categories of impact: environmental connectedness, personal growth, and professional growth. Interviews conducted years following the ISL indicate that participants attribute several aspects of their professional and personal way of being to the ISL, including the importance of whole person care. CONCLUSIONS: Studies have shown benefits to health professions students immediately following an ISL. This study demonstrates that benefits persist years later. The long-term impact strengthens the rationale for including ISL during professional education.

How to plan workflow changes: a practical quality improvement tool used in an outpatient hospital pharmacy.

OBJECTIVE: A quality improvement tool is provided to improve pharmacy workflow with the goal of minimizing errors caused by workflow issues. This study involved workflow evaluation and reorganization, and staff opinions of these proposed changes. PRACTICE DESCRIPTION: The study pharmacy was an outpatient pharmacy in the Tucson area. However, the quality improvement tool may be applied in all pharmacy settings, including but not limited to community, hospital, and independent pharmacies. PRACTICE INNOVATION: This tool can help the user to identify potential workflow problem spots, such as high-traffic areas through the creation of current and proposed workflow diagrams. Creating a visual representation can help the user to identify problem spots and to propose changes to optimize workflow. It may also be helpful to assess employees' opinions of these changes. CONCLUSION: The workflow improvement tool can be used to assess where improvements are needed in a pharmacy's floor plan and workflow. Suggestions for improvements in the study pharmacy included increasing the number of verification points and decreasing high traffic areas in the workflow. The employees of the study pharmacy felt that the proposed changes displayed greater continuity, sufficiency, accessibility, and space within the pharmacy.

Chapter 16--spinal plasticity in the recovery of locomotion.

Locomotion is a very robust motor pattern which can be optimized after different types of lesions to the central and/or peripheral nervous system. This implies that several plastic mechanisms are at play to re-express locomotion after such lesions. Here, we review some of the key observations that helped identify some of these plastic mechanisms. At the core of this plasticity is the existence of a spinal central pattern generator (CPG) which is responsible for hindlimb locomotion as observed after a complete spinal cord section. However, normally, the CPG pattern is adapted by sensory inputs to take the environment into account and by supraspinal inputs in the context of goal-directed locomotion. We therefore also review some of the sensory and supraspinal mechanisms involved in the recovery of locomotion after partial spinal injury. We particularly stress a recent development using a dual spinal lesion paradigm in which a first partial spinal lesion is made which is then followed, some weeks later, by a complete spinalization. The results show that the spinal cord below the spinalization has been changed by the initial partial lesion suggesting that, in the recovery of locomotion after partial spinal lesion, plastic mechanisms within the spinal cord itself are very important.

Determinants of locomotor recovery after spinal injury in the cat.

After a spinalization at the most caudal thoracic spinal segment, the cat can recover locomotion of the hindlimbs when they are placed on a moving treadmill. This chapter summarizes some of the determinants of such a dramatic recovery of motor function. Fundamental to this recovery is undoubtedly the genetically based spinal locomotor generator, which provides an essential rhythmicity to spinal motoneurons and hence the musculature. Other factors are also important, however. Sensory feedback is essential for the correct expression of spinal locomotion because spinal cats, devoid of cutaneous feedback from the hindfeet, are incapable of plantar foot placement. The neurochemical environment also adapts to spinalization, i.e., the loss of all modulation by descending monoaminergic pathways. Post-transection spinal rhythmicity then becomes more dependent on glutamatergic mechanisms. Finally, we argue that the mid-lumbar spinal segments evolve to play a crucial role in the elaboration of spinal locomotion as their inactivation abolishes spinal locomotion. In summary, the above findings suggest that the recovery of spinal locomotion is determined by a number of factors, each of which must now be more fully understood in the ever-continuing effort to improve the rehabilitation of spinal-cord-injured subjects.

Effects of intrathecal glutamatergic drugs on locomotion. II. NMDA and AP-5 in intact and late spinal cats.

In a previous article, we have shown that, in cats, intrathecal injections of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) in the first few days after spinalization at T13 do not induce locomotion as in many other spinal preparations. This is in contrast to alpha-2 noradrenergic receptor stimulation, which can trigger locomotion at this early stage. However, it is known that spinal cats do recover spontaneous locomotion in the absence of descending noradrenergic pathways and that the spinal pattern generator must then depend on other neurotransmitters still present in the cord such as excitatory amino acids. In the present paper, therefore we look at the effects of intrathecal NMDA, a glutamatergic agonist, and 2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (AP-5), an NMDA receptor blocker, in both intact and late spinal cats. Low doses of NMDA had no major effect on the locomotor pattern in both intact and late spinal cats. Larger doses of NMDA in the chronic spinal cat initially produced an increase in the general excitability followed by more regular locomotion. AP-5 in intact cats caused a decrease in the amplitude of the flexion reflex and induced a bilateral foot drag as well as some decrease in weight support but it did not prevent locomotion. However, in late spinal cats, the same dose of AP-5 blocked locomotion completely. These results indicate that NMDA receptors may be critical for the spontaneous expression of spinal locomotion. It is proposed that the basic locomotor rhythmicity in cats is NMDA-dependent and that normally this glutamatergic mechanism is modulated by other neurotransmitters, such as 5-HT and NA.

Effects of intrathecal glutamatergic drugs on locomotion I. NMDA in short-term spinal cats.

Excitatory amino acids (EAA) have been reported to induce fictive locomotion in different in vitro and in vivo preparations in a variety of species through their actions on both N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), and non-NMDA receptors. NMDA-induced intrinsic membrane properties such as intrinsic motoneuronal membrane oscillations and plateau potentials have been suggested to play a role in the generation of locomotion. There is, however, no information on the ability of NMDA in triggering spinal locomotion in awake behaving animals. Because most of the previous work on the induction of locomotion has concentrated on monoaminergic drugs, mainly noradrenergic drugs, the aim of this study is to examine the potential of NMDA in initiating locomotion in chronic spinal cats within the first week after spinalization. Five cats chronically implanted with an intrathecal cannula and electromyographic (EMG) electrodes were used. EMG activity synchronized to video images of the hindlimbs were recorded. The results show that during the early posttransection period (within the 1st week postspinalization), NMDA did not trigger robust locomotion as did noradrenergic drugs. The predominant effects of NMDA were a general hyperexcitability reflected by fast tremor, toe fanning, and an increase in small alternating hindlimb movements with no foot placement nor weight support. During the intermediate phase posttransection (6-8 days), when the cats were able to make some rudimentary steps with foot placement, NMDA significantly enhanced the locomotor performance, which lasted for 24-72 h postinjection. NMDA was also found to increase the excitability of the cutaneous reflex transmission only in early spinal cats. One possible hypothesis for the ineffectiveness of NMDA in triggering locomotion in early spinal cats could be attributed to the widespread activation of NMDA receptors on various neuronal elements involved in the transmission of afferent pathways that in turn may interfere with the expression of locomotion. The marked effects of NMDA in intermediate-spinal cats suggest that NMDA receptors play an important role in locomotion perhaps through its role on intrinsic membrane properties of neurons in shaping and amplifying spinal neuronal transmission or by augmenting the sensory afferent inputs. The long-term effects mediated by NMDA receptors have been reported in the literature and may involve mechanisms such as induction of long-term potentiation or interactions with neuropeptides. The effects of NMDA injection in intact cats and long-term chronic spinal cats will be addressed in a forthcoming companion paper.