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Profiles Of Fatigue Severity And Variability Among Adolescents And Young Adults With Cerebral Palsy, Laura K. Brunton, Doreen J. Bartlett

Physical Therapy Publications

Background: Individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) experience progressive changes in functional status with the development of secondary impairments such as fatigue. Detailed accounts of the fatigue experience in CP are lacking.

Purpose: This study describes the severity and variability of fatigue in CP using the Fatigue Impact and Severity Self-Assessment.

Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study surveying 130 (61 males) individuals (mean age 18 years, 11 months; SD four years, six months) with CP. Analyses comprised comparisons between two groups (Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) I and II-V), frequency counts and proportions.

Results: Significant differences exist between GMFCS …

Selectivity Of Conventional Electrodes For Recording Motor Evoked Potentials: An Investigation With High‐Density Surface Electromyography, Alessio Gallina, Sue Peters, Jason L. Neva, Lara A. Boyd, Jayne Garland

Physical Therapy Publications

Introduction

The objective of this study was to determine whether motor evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited with transcranial magnetic stimulation and measured with conventional bipolar electromyography (EMG) are influenced by crosstalk from non-target muscles.

Methods

MEPs were recorded in healthy participants using conventional EMG electrodes placed over the extensor carpi radialis muscle (ECR) and high-density surface EMG (HDsEMG). Fifty MEPs at 120% resting and active motor threshold were recorded. To determine the contribution of ECR to the MEPs, the amplitude distribution across HDsEMG channels was correlated with EMG activity recorded during a wrist extension task.

Results

Whereas the conventional EMG identified …

The Prevalence, Location, Severity, And Daily Impact Of Pain Reported By Youth And Young Adults With Cerebral Palsy., Laura Brunton, Sarah Hall, Adrienne Passingham, Julie Wulff, Rich Delitala

Physical Therapy Publications

PURPOSE: To describe the prevalence, location, severity, and daily impact of pain reported by youth and young adults with cerebral palsy (CP). A secondary aim was to identify any significant associations between the constructs of interest.

METHOD: An observational study of 112 participants with CP to understand their experience of pain through a questionnaire. Participants were 56 males and 55 females with a mean age of 18y 9mo (SD 4y 5mo).

RESULTS: Pain was reported by 75% of males and 89% of females. Both severity and impact of pain were significantly greater in females. In addition, severity and impact of …

Consensus Classifications Of Gross Motor, Manual Ability, And Communication Function Classification Systems Between Therapists And Parents Of Children With Cerebral Palsy., Doreen J Bartlett, Barbara Galuppi, Robert J Palisano, Sarah Westcott Mccoy

Physical Therapy Publications

No abstract provided.

Motor Skill Acquisition Promotes Human Brain Myelin Plasticity, Bimal Lakhani, Michael R. Borich, Jacob N. Jackson, Katie P. Wadden, Sue Peters, Anica Villamayor, Alex L. Mackay, Irene M. Vavasour, Alexander Rauscher, Lara A. Boyd

Physical Therapy Publications

Experience-dependent structural changes are widely evident in gray matter. Using diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), the neuroplastic effect of motor training on white matter in the brain has been demonstrated. However, in humans it is not known whether specific features of white matter relate to motor skill acquisition or if these structural changes are associated to functional network connectivity. Myelin can be objectively quantified in vivo and used to index specific experience-dependent change. In the current study, seventeen healthy young adults completed ten sessions of visuomotor skill training (10,000 total movements) using the right arm. Multicomponent relaxation imaging was performed before …