Motor Control Commons^™

Perceptual And Contextual Sources Of Athletic Training Confidence: The Transition To Professional Entry Level Master’S Programs, Craig E. Pfeifer, Erin Moore, Brian Seiler, Caroline Thomason, Eva V. Monsma

Journal of Sports Medicine and Allied Health Sciences: Official Journal of the Ohio Athletic Trainers Association

Introduction: The shift of athletic training education from undergraduate degrees to professional master’s degrees and the prominence of computer-based credentialing may impact the hands-on experiences beneficial for developing confidence in athletic training competency domains. Health care provider confidence is critical for clinical skill development, performance and enhancing patient care. Purpose: To examine domain specific efficacy, its sources, learning contexts (i.e., classroom, laboratory, clinical settings) and clinical characteristics by program types. Method: Descriptive, cross-sectional design where 178 Athletic Trainers (AT; age 24.25 + 3.76, n = 72 male, n = 106 female) participated in the study (Master’s Program (MP) = 38; …

3d Prosthetics Effects On Standing Posture In Unilateral Upper Limb Deficient Children, Keaton Young

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

3D Prosthetics Effects on Standing Posture in Unilateral Upper Limb Deficient Children

Keaton Young

Department of Biomechanics, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Introduction

Upper Limb Reduction Deficiency (ULD) is a congenital disability that affects the upper limb, which the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly 1,500 babies are born with ULD in the United States yearly ^1,2. Prior research has focused on functional treatment of the upper limbs but has lacked observance of the effects that prosthetics and limb loss incur to the trunk. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the acute effects …

Practice Variability Promotes An External Focus Of Attention And Enhances Motor Skill Learning, Lee-Kuen Chua, Maria Katrina Dimapilis, Takehiro Iwatsuki, Reza Abdollahipour, Rebecca Lewthwaite, Gabriele Wulf

Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences Faculty Research

Variability in practice has been shown to enhance motor skill learning. Benefits of practice variability have been attributed to motor schema formation (variable versus constant practice), or more effortful information processing (random versus blocked practice). We hypothesized that, among other mechanisms, greater practice variability might promote an external focus of attention on the intended movement effect, while less variability would be more conducive to a less effective internal focus on body movements. In Experiment 1, the learning of a throwing task was enhanced by variable versus constant practice, and variable group participants reported focusing more on the distance to the …

Electronic Measurement Of Plantar Contact Area During Walking Using An Adaptive Thresholding Method For Medilogic Pressure-Measuring Insoles, Daniel E. Lidstone, Jessica Deberardinis, Janet S. Dufek, Mohamed B. Trabia

Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences Faculty Research

Background: Pressure-measuring insoles have the potential to measure plantar contact area (PA) during walking. However, they are not widely used for this purpose because of the need for a reliable process that can convert the insole output into PA. The purposes of this study were to: (1) develop an adaptive-threshold method for pressure-measuring insoles that can improve the accuracy of the PA measurements during walking, and (2) experimentally assess the accuracy and generalizability of this method. Methods: A sample of 42 healthy, ambulatory, young adults (age = 24.3 ± 3.2 years, mass = 67.2 ± 16.9 kg, height = 1.63 …

Analysis Of Push-Up And Pull-Up Variants To Develop An Upper Extremity Model, Ashley Carlene Wimsett

Theses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

Musculoskeletal Injuries are the most common cause of severe long-term pain and physical disability. Push-Ups and Pull-Ups are effective dynamic exercises that mimic high level function activities, such as those used in the military. The model developed allows for researchers to analyze the forces and moments associated with the shoulder, elbow and wrist, to further assess function in military personnel, athletes and the active population. The model also follows the guidelines set forth by the International Society of Biomechanics (ISB).

An Examination Of The Effects Of Bilateral And Unilateral Very Short-Term Dcer Training On Strength And Neuromuscular Responses Within The Lower Limb Bilateral Deficit, Mark Travis Byrd

Theses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

The very short-term resistance training (VST) model, utilizing only 2-3 training sessions, has been used to examine early phase skeletal muscle, neural, and performance adaptations. The VST model has previously been used to examine these early phase adaptations in bilateral and unilateral, isometric, isokinetic, and dynamic muscle actions in the limbs of the upper- and lower-body. The bilateral deficit (BLD) is a phenomenon in which the sum of the forces produced unilaterally is greater than the force produced bilaterally during maximal contraction of the limbs. The appearance of a bilateral deficit has been be related to various factors; including training …

Changes On Movement Control Of Dart Throwing Under Distance And Target Weight Constraints, Carlos E. Campos, Guilherme M. Lage, Andre G.P. Andrade, Crislaine R. Couto, Suziane P. Santos, Vitor L.S. Profeta, Herbert Ugrinowitsch

Athletic Performance Research

The aim of the study was to verify the effects of dart weight and target distance on kinematic variables of the movement control of the underarm dart throwing task. Four women and one man performed the task of throwing a dart at two horizontal circular targets located at 2m (Nt) and 3m (Ft) away, with two different weights, 22g (Ld) and 44g (Hd). On the first phase of the experiment, the human volunteers performed 200 trials per day during four sessions. On the fifth day, it had 40 more trials in a pseudo random order that were recorded and analysed. …

A Singer’S Stress: Yoga And Meditation Techniques In The Collegiate Voice Studio, Zackery David Morris

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Often neglected in voice study is the understanding that a singer’s instrument lives in his/her body and therefore cannot be packed away like other musical objects. Yoga and mindfulness compliment the belief of a whole body instrument. Data gathered on college campuses report that stress and anxiety are on the rise, thus reinforcing the need for MBSR and yoga as beneficial and proven tools for stress relief. The current state of research in the realm of mental health in colleges merits the study of a cohesive layout of these exercises and their expected outcomes in singing as well as stress …

Intraindividual Variability Of Neuromotor Function Predicts Falls Risk In Older Adults And Those With Type 2 Diabetes, Steven Morrison, Karl Newell

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

The current study was designed to examine the effect of increasing age and type 2 diabetes on the average responses and inter- and intra-individual variability of falls risk, reaction time, strength, and walking speed for healthy older adults and older persons with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Seventy-five older individuals (controls) and 75 persons with T2DM aged between 50-79 years participated in the study. Assessments of falls risk, reaction time (RT), knee extension strength and walking speed were conducted. The results revealed that advancing age for both control and T2DM groups was reflected by a progressive increase in falls risk, decreased …

The Impact Of Flexibility On Balance In Rifle Athletes, Ileia Nagelkirk

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Research has shown that there may be a connection between flexibility and balance when evaluating fall risk in older adults and flexibility’s effect on a balance test (Emilio, Hita-Contreras, Jiménez-Lara, Latorre-Román, & Martínez-Amat, 2014); Overmoyer & Reiser, (2015). Balance is an important component of many sport movements, and has been shown to be particularly important in shooting performance in both novice and Olympic rifle athletes (Mononen, Konttinen, Viitasalo, Era, 2007; Ball, Best, Wrigley, 2003). The purpose of this study was to find if there was a relationship between a rifle athlete’s flexibility and their balance ability, to determine if flexibility …

Physical Fatigue Negatively Affects Decision-Making During A Closing-Gap Aperture Crossing Task When Using Joystick-Controlled Locomotion, Natalie Snyder

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Goal-direct locomotion is made possible through the integration of sensory input from the visual, vestibular, and somatosensory system. However, changes in collision avoidance behaviours and action capabilities (i.e., affordances) may occur when a sensory conflict is introduced (i.e., via incongruent input from a sensory system). Further, changes to the person (such as physical fatigue) may have negative implications on the cognitive abilities of an individual following physically fatiguing exercise. This in turn could affect an individual’s ability to avoid collisions with objects or other individuals in their environment. Thus, the objective of this thesis was to explore how physical fatigue …

The Task At Hand: Fatigue-Associated Changes To Corticospinal Excitability During Writing, Kezia Cinelli

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Corticospinal excitability as measured via transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is highly dependent on the task being performed at the time of stimulation. As such, this study sought out to measure corticospinal excitability during the relevant, daily task of writing and compare it to the conventional abduction task often utilized. We used single-pulse motor evoked potentials (MEPs) to provide a measure of corticospinal excitability and cortical silent period (CSP) duration, and paired-pulse conditioned MEPs to assess short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) and intracortical facilitation (ICF) recorded from the right first dorsal interosseous (FDI) of 19 participants on two randomized and counter-balanced days. …

Exploring The Potential Neuromuscular Adaptations Associated With Sprint Interval Training, Samer Hassan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Purpose. The primary purpose of this study was to explore the acute (a single sprint interval training or SIT exercise session) and chronic (3 weeks of SIT) neural adaptations that may occur with the SIT (30 second sprint and 4 minutes of rest).

Methods. 28 recreationally active participants were pseudo-randomized into either a control group (CTRL) or training group (TR) and tested at 4 time points after baseline VO_2max testing. Participants were tested, pre-training/pre-fatigue, pre-training/post-fatigue, post-training/pre-fatigue, post-training/post-fatigue. The fatigue protocol was a SIT session (4 x 30-s sprints). The TR completed a 3-week running SIT protocol (3x/wk) progressing …