Kinesiology Commons^™

Magnetic Field Frequency-Response For Human Magnetophosphene Perception And Associated Eeg Modulations, Cadence M. Baker

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Background: Magnetophosphenes are among the most reliably reported effects resulting from magnetic induction. The frequency dependence of the perception threshold is crucial, as guideline agencies use this information to set exposure limits whose purpose is to protect public and workers.

Objective:Establish the magnetophosphene perception thresholds throughout the extremely low frequency range (0-300 Hz) and evaluate the use of EEG as a biomarker.

Hypothesis:Perception thresholds will be lowest at ~30 Hz. EEG occipital alpha power will decrease upon perception.

Methods:60 participants were exposed to homogenous magnetic fields up to 300 Hz, and 70 mT. EEG alpha power …

Operant Conditioning Of Human Upper-Limb Stretch Reflexes, Ehsan Abolhasani

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Operant conditioning of short-latency reflex (SLR) and H-reflex have been investigated in animals and humans. We modified previously established protocols for conditioning lower limb H-reflexes to up-condition the SLR in brachioradialis muscle and to investigate the effect of such conditioning on the long-latency response (LLR) of synergistic muscles. Our study included 12 healthy participants. Each participant took part in 3 baseline and 27 conditioning sessions in 6 weeks, followed by two additional sessions one month and two months after the last conditioning session. We found an increase in SLR magnitude in 50% of participants (by 15%±2.50). However, there was no …

Working Memory And Falls Risk In Older Adults: An Event-Related Potential Study, Yee (Michelle) S. Wong

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

BACKGROUND: The aging population is rapidly increasing, where currently in North America, the population of older adults (ages 60+) outnumbers the population of children. Falls are a major concern for older adults and their quality of life. Cognitive impairment has been shown to be declined in older adults at-risk for falls, but working memory has not been thoroughly investigated within this population. PURPOSE: To examine differences in Non-Fallers, Moderate Risk for Falls, and Fallers in a working memory task using electroencephalography (EEG). METHODS: Older adults (n=44, female=27) aged 60 – 80 years (m=68.8, SD=4.7) completed two sessions. The first session …

Examining The Relationship Between State Anxiety And Vestibular And Ocular Motor Impairments And Symptoms In High School Athletes With Concussion, Mallory Kathleen Mcelroy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Anxiety has been associated with vestibular and ocular motor impairment in the general population. However, there is limited research regarding the connection between the vestibular and ocular motor systems and anxiety following sport-related concussion (SRC). OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to compare state anxiety between concussed adolescent male and female athletes with and without vestibular and ocular motor impairments and symptoms. DESIGN: Prospective, repeated measures SUBJECTS: Thirty adolescent athletes between the ages of 15-18 years, diagnosed with a SRC completed the STAI-State at initial and medical clearance clinical visit. These adolescent athletes were categorized into vestibular and ocular …

Longitudinal Tracking Of Physiological State With Electromyographic Signals., Robert Warren Stallard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Electrophysiological measurements have been used in recent history to classify instantaneous physiological configurations, e.g., hand gestures. This work investigates the feasibility of working with changes in physiological configurations over time (i.e., longitudinally) using a variety of algorithms from the machine learning domain. We demonstrate a high degree of classification accuracy for a binary classification problem derived from electromyography measurements before and after a 35-day bedrest. The problem difficulty is increased with a more dynamic experiment testing for changes in astronaut sensorimotor performance by taking electromyography and force plate measurements before, during, and after a jump from a small platform. A …

Is Concussion-Related Sleep Disturbance Present After Return To Play In College Athletes?, Alexander Gallaer

Honors Scholar Theses

As one of the most commonly experienced symptoms, the ramifications of sleep disruption as a result of concussion are potentially great, yet widely unexplored. Particularly troublesome is murky data regarding the length of sleep disruption following a concussion. By analyzing self-reported sleep data via the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, this study seeks to investigate potential differences in sleep quality between injured college athletes 40 days after they have been cleared to play and matched controls. Data was analyzed using ANOVA analysis as well as Pearson correlation. No significant differences were found in sleep quality between groups, nor was there a …

The Fatigue-Associated Changes In Estimates Of Persistent Inward Current In Human Motor Neurons, Chris Compton

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Neuromuscular fatigue is associated with reduced supraspinal drive. Similarly, intracortical facilitation and muscle activation are reduced following concussion. Both fatigue and mild traumatic brain injury are associated with increased noradrenergic and serotonergic activity in animal models. Given that monoaminergic-dependent persistent inward currents (PIC) set spinal motor neuron (MN) gain, we speculate that PIC will increase during fatigue to compensate for supraspinal hypoexcitability and that this will be more pronounced in people with concussion. Therefore, the purpose of this experiment was to assess spinal MN excitability during fatigue in people with concussion and healthy controls. 20 participants (10 concussion, average age …

The Effect Of Sleep Quantity And Quality On Direct Current Potential In Collegiate American Football Players, Erik D. Korem

Theses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

Direct current (DC) potential is an objective measure of the functional state of the human organism. It is a sensitive and accurate indicator of short- and long-term adaptations to stress, adaptive capacities, and it is an important marker of athlete readiness. Sleep is posited to be the most efficacious strategy for improving recovery to enhance sport performance, and adequate sleep is considered vital to normal psycho-physiological function. Thus, optimal sleep may enhance the functional state, in turn enhancing an athlete’s adaptability to training stress. However, little is known about the relationship between sleep and DC potential. Therefore, the purpose of …

Saccadic Eye Movements Between Strategic, Interceptive, And Non-Athletes, Brian Szekely

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Athletes have differences in object tracking, search strategies, number and duration of fixations, dynamic visual acuity (DVA), and predictive eye movements than non-athletes (NON). However, these eye functions have not been assessed between athlete groups during a task that encompasses antisaccade and DVA characteristics. Purpose: To evaluate the oculomotor control sport paradigm differences between interceptive (INT) and strategic (STR) Division I collegiate athletes, as well as NON with an antisaccade task (AS) and a sport-like dual task (SDT). Methods: Fifty-seven participants (19 STR, 19 INT, and 19 NON) performed 2 trials of an AS and a SDT. Participants stood …