Passive proprioceptive training alters the sensitivity of muscle spindles to imposed movements

Background: Despite the potential benefits of virtual reality technology in physical rehabilitation, only a few studies have evaluated the efficacy of this type of treatment in patients with neck pain.Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of virtual reality training (VRT) versus conventional proprioceptive training (CPT) in patients with neck pain.Methods: Forty four participants with nonspecific chronic neck pain were randomly assigned to VRT or CPT in this assessor-blinded clinical trial. A novel videogame called Cervigame® was designed for VRT. It comprises of 50 stages divided into unidirectional and two-directional stages ordered from easy to hard. CPT consisted of eye-follow, gaze stability, eye-head coordination and position and movement sense training. Both groups completed 8 training sessions over 4 weeks. Visual analogue scale score, neck disability index and Y-balance test results were recorded at baseline, immediately after and 5 weeks post-intervention. Mixed repeated measure ANOVA was used to analyze differences between mean values for each variable at an alpha level of 0.05.Results: There were significant improvements in all variables in both groups immediately after and 5 weeks after the intervention. Greater improvements were observed in the visual analogue scale and neck disability index scores in VRT group, and the results for all directions in Y-balance test were similar in both groups. No side effects were reported.Conclusion: Improvements in neck pain and disability were greater in VRT than CPT group. Cervigame® is a potentially practical tool for rehabilitation in patients with neck pain.

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The effect of proprioceptive training on postural control in people with diabetes: A randomized clinical trial comparing delivery at home, under supervision, or no training

Clinical Rehabilitation ◽

10.1177/0269215521989016 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 026921552198901

Author(s):

Nathalia Cristina de Souza Borges ◽

Ariane Hidalgo Mansano Pletsch ◽

Mariana Barbosa Buzato ◽

Natalia Akemi Yamada Terada ◽

Fernanda Maria Ferreira da Cruz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Type 2 Diabetes ◽

Postural Control ◽

Force Plate ◽

Outcome Variable ◽

Control Group ◽

Functional Tests ◽

Supervised Training ◽

Proprioceptive Training ◽

Home Training

Objective: Analyze postural control in the bipedal position as well as during gait and functional tests in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus after supervised and unsupervised proprioceptive training. Design: A three-group randomized controlled trial. Setting: Physiotherapeutic Resources Lab, Department of Health Sciences, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo Subjects: Eighty patients with type 2 diabetes allocated to three groups: control, home training, and supervised training. Interventions: The supervised and home training groups performed two weekly sessions of proprioceptive exercises for 12 weeks. The control group was not submitted to any of treatment. Main measures: Bipedal balance, gait, and performance on functional tests were evaluated before and after 12 weeks using the Balance Evaluation Systems Test (BESTest) and the force plate. Results: No significant improvements were found regarding postural control, gait, or performance on the functional tests, as evidenced by the inter-group comparisons of the total BESTest score [control: 90.7 (81.5–92.6); home training: 85.2 (77.8–90.3); supervised training: 88.4 (82.6–91.4), P > 0.05] as well as the tests performed on the force plate ( P > 0.05). The clinical effect size of the proposed intervention was less than 0.2, demonstrating no effect for the main outcome variable evaluated by the “Sensory Orientation” item of the BESTest and by the mCTSIB (pressure plate). Conclusions: The proposed proprioceptive training did not lead to improvements in postural control in patients with type 2 diabetes with no clinical signs of diabetic distal polyneuropathy when analyzed using the BESTest clinical evaluation and a force plate. Trial registration: NCT01861392 (clinicaltrials.gov).

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Analysis of activity of muscle spindles of the jaw-closing muscles during normal movements in the cat.

The Journal of Physiology ◽

10.1113/jphysiol.1975.sp011207 ◽

1975 ◽

Vol 253 (2) ◽

pp. 565-582 ◽

Cited By ~ 71

Author(s):

F W Cody ◽

L M Harrison ◽

A Taylor

Keyword(s):

Muscle Spindles

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Gamification in a Physical Rehabilitation Setting: Developing a Proprioceptive Training Exercise for a Wrist Robot

SIGGRAPH Asia 2019 Posters ◽

10.1145/3355056.3364572 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Christopher Curry ◽

Naveen Elangovan ◽

Reuben Gardos Reid ◽

Jiapeng Xu ◽

Jürgen Konczak

Keyword(s):

Physical Rehabilitation ◽

Training Exercise ◽

Proprioceptive Training

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The path from trigeminal asymmetry to cognitive impairment: a behavioral and molecular study

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-82265-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Maria Paola Tramonti Fantozzi ◽

Giulia Lazzarini ◽

Vincenzo De Cicco ◽

Angela Briganti ◽

Serena Argento ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pupil Size ◽

Muscle Spindles ◽

Molecular Study ◽

Contralateral Side ◽

Acute Effects ◽

Adult Rats ◽

Afferent Inputs ◽

Acute And Chronic Effects ◽

The Brain ◽

Mandibular Branch

AbstractTrigeminal input exerts acute and chronic effects on the brain, modulating cognitive functions. Here, new data from humans and animals suggest that these effects are caused by trigeminal influences on the Locus Coeruleus (LC). In humans subjects clenching with masseter asymmetric activity, occlusal correction improved cognition, alongside with reductions in pupil size and anisocoria, proxies of LC activity and asymmetry, respectively. Notably, reductions in pupil size at rest on the hypertonic side predicted cognitive improvements. In adult rats, a distal unilateral section of the trigeminal mandibular branch reduced, on the contralateral side, the expression of c-Fos (brainstem) and BDNF (brainstem, hippocampus, frontal cortex). This counterintuitive finding can be explained by the following model: teeth contact perception loss on the lesioned side results in an increased occlusal effort, which enhances afferent inputs from muscle spindles and posterior periodontal receptors, spared by the distal lesion. Such effort leads to a reduced engagement of the intact side, with a corresponding reduction in the afferent inputs to the LC and in c-Fos and BDNF gene expression. In conclusion, acute effects of malocclusion on performance seem mediated by the LC, which could also contribute to the chronic trophic dysfunction induced by loss of trigeminal input.

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Computer Simulation of the Responses of Human Motoneurons to Composite 1A EPSPS: Effects of Background Firing Rate

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.1997.77.1.405 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 77 (1) ◽

pp. 405-420 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

Kelvin E. Jones ◽

Parveen Bawa

Keyword(s):

Computer Simulation ◽

Firing Rate ◽

Time Course ◽

Current Model ◽

Response Probability ◽

Muscle Spindles ◽

Excitatory Postsynaptic Potential ◽

Biophysical Properties ◽

Rhythmic Firing ◽

The Relationship

Jones, Kelvin E. and Parveen Bawa. Computer simulation of the responses of human motoneurons to composite 1A EPSPS: effects of background firing rate. J. Neurophysiol. 77: 405–420, 1997. Two compartmental models of spinal alpha motoneurons were constructed to explore the relationship between background firing rate and response to an excitatory input. The results of these simulations were compared with previous results obtained from human motoneurons and discussed in relation to the current model for repetitively firing human motoneurons. The morphologies and cable parameters of the models were based on two type-identified cat motoneurons previously reported in the literature. Each model included five voltage-dependent channels that were modeled using Hodgkin-Huxley formalism. These included fast Na+ and K+ channels in the initial segment and fast Na+ and K+ channels as well as a slow K+ channel in the soma compartment. The density and rate factors for the slow K+ channel were varied until the models could reproduce single spike AHP parameters for type-identified motoneurons in the cat. Excitatory synaptic conductances were distributed along the equivalent dendrites with the same density described for la synapses from muscle spindles to type-identified cat motoneurons. Simultaneous activation of all synapses on the dendrite resulted in a large compound excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP). Brief depolarizing pulses injected into a compartment of the equivalent dendrite resulted in pulse potentials (PPs), which resembled the compound EPSPs. The effects of compound EPSPs and PPs on firing probability of the two motoneuron models were examined during rhythmic firing. Peristimulus time histograms, constructed between the stimulus and the spikes of the model motoneuron, showed excitatory peaks whose integrated time course approximated the time course of the underlying EPSP or PP as has been shown in cat motoneurons. The excitatory peaks were quantified in terms of response probability, and the relationship between background firing rate and response probability was explored. As in real human motoneurons, the models exhibited an inverse relationship between response probability and background firing rate. The biophysical properties responsible for the relationship between response probability and firing rate included the shapes of the membrane voltage trajectories between spikes and nonlinear changes in PP amplitude during the interspike interval at different firing rates. The results from these simulations suggest that the relationship between response probability and background firing rate is an intrinsic feature of motoneurons. The similarity of the results from the models, which were based on the properties of cat motoneurons, and those from human motoneurons suggests that the biophysical properties governing rhythmic firing in human motoneurons are similar to those of the cat.

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