Functional performance deficits associated with ligamentous instability at the ankle

Abstract Context: Functional ankle instability (FAI) affects a large part of the population. Inconsistent findings have been reported regarding the existence of functional performance deficits in individuals with FAI. Objective: To examine functional performance in participants with FAI compared with participants in a control group during 2 hopping tests. Design: Case-control study. Settings: Athletic training research laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: There were 40 college-aged individuals who participated in our study: 20 with FAI and 20 without FAI. We defined FAI as history of an ankle sprain and residual episodes of “giving way.” Intervention(s): Participants completed 2 functional performance tests (FPTs): the single-limb hopping and the single-limb hurdle tests. Main Outcome Measure(s): Time to complete each test was recorded. Following each FPT, participants were asked if their ankles felt unstable during the test. Results: We found no difference between participants in the FAI and control groups for the hopping or hurdle tests (P > .05). When asked if their ankles felt unstable during the FPTs, approximately half of the participants in the FAI group and none of the participants in the control group reported a feeling of instability. Subsequently, a secondary analysis of variance was calculated with participants grouped into 3 categories: control participants, FAI participants reporting instability symptoms during FPT (FAI-S), and FAI participants not reporting instability symptoms during FPT (FAI-NS). Results revealed a difference among the 3 groups for the single-limb hopping test (P < .01). Post hoc analysis revealed a difference between the FAI-S participants and both the control and the FAI-NS participants. No difference was identified for the single-limb hurdle test (P = .41). Conclusions: The FAI-S participants had performance deficits during the single-limb hopping test. Therefore, clinicians could use this simple hopping test as an additional method to determine the presence of FAI.

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Face and Word Recognition in Patients with Left and Right Hemispheric Lesions: Evidence from Reaction Times and ERPs

Zeitschrift für Neuropsychologie ◽

10.1024//1016-264x.13.1.69 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 69-83 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Stefan R. Schweinberger ◽

Thomas Klos ◽

Werner Sommer

Keyword(s):

Slow Wave ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Memory Search ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Performance Deficits ◽

Set Size ◽

Left Brain ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Abstract Words ◽

Left Brain Damage

Abstract: We recorded reaction times (RTs) and event-related potentials (ERPs) in patients with unilateral lesions during a memory search task. Participants memorized faces or abstract words, which were then recognized among new ones. The RT deficit found in patients with left brain damage (LBD) for words increased with memory set size, suggesting that their problem relates to memory search. In contrast, the RT deficit found in patients with RBD for faces was apparently related to perceptual encoding, a conclusion also supported by their reduced P100 ERP component. A late slow wave (720-1720 ms) was enhanced in patients, particularly to words in patients with LBD, and to faces in patients with RBD. Thus, the slow wave was largest in the conditions with most pronounced performance deficits, suggesting that it reflects deficit-related resource recruitment.

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