General Mental Health is Associated with Gait Asymmetry

Wearable sensors are being applied to real-world motion monitoring and the focus of this work is assessing health status and wellbeing. An extensive literature has documented the effects on gait control of impaired physical health, but in this project, the aim was to determine whether emotional states associated with older people’s mental health are also associated with walking mechanics. If confirmed, wearable sensors could be used to monitor affective responses. Lower limb gait mechanics of 126 healthy individuals (mean age 66.2 ± 8.38 years) were recorded using a high-speed 3D motion sensing system and they also completed a 12-item mental health status questionnaire (GHQ-12). Mean step width and minimum foot-ground clearance (MFC), indicative of tripping risk, were moderately correlated with GHQ-12. Ageing and variability (SD) of gait parameters were not significantly correlated with GHQ-12. GHQ-12 scores were, however, highly correlated with left-right gait control, indicating that greater gait symmetry was associated with better mental health. Maintaining good mental health with ageing may promote safer gait and wearable sensor technologies could be applied to gait asymmetry monitoring, possibly using a single inertial measurement unit attached to each shoe

Gait and cognition: mapping the global and discrete relationships in ageing and neurodegenerative disease

Recent research highlights the association of gait and cognition in older adults but a stronger understanding is needed to discern coincident pathophysiology, patterns of change, examine underlying mechanisms and aid diagnosis. This structured review mapped associations and predictors of gait and cognition in older adults with and without cognitive impairment, and Parkinson's disease. Fifty papers out of an initial yield of 22,128 were reviewed and a model of gait guided analysis and interpretation. Associations were dominated by the pace domain of gait; the most frequently studied domain. In older adults pace was identified as a predictor for cognitive decline. Where comprehensive measurement of gait was conducted, more specific pathological patterns of association were evident highlighting the importance of this approach. This review confirmed a robust association between gait and cognition and argues for a selective, comprehensive measurement approach. Results suggest gait may be a surrogate marker of cognitive impairment and cognitive decline. Understanding the specific nature of this relationship is essential for refinement of diagnostics and development of novel therapies

Isolated Subtle Neurological Abnormalities in Mild Cognitive Impairment Types

Background: Isolated, subtle neurological abnormalities (ISNA) are commonly seen in aging and have been related to cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) and subcortical atrophy in neurologically and cognitively healthy aging subjects. Objective: To investigate the frequency of ISNA in different mild cognitive impairment (MCI) types and to evaluate for each MCI type, the crosssectional relation between ISNA and white matter hyperintensities (WMH), lacunes, caudate atrophy, and ventricular enlargement. Methods: One thousand two hundred fifty subjects with different MCI types were included in the analysis and underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging. WMHs were assessed through two visual rating scales. Lacunes were also rated. Atrophy of the caudate nuclei and ventricular enlargement were assessed through the bicaudate ratio (BCr) and the lateral ventricles to brain ratio (LVBr), respectively. Apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotypes were also assessed. The routine neurological examination was used to evaluate ISNAs that were clustered as central-based signs, cerebellar-based signs, and primitive reflexes. The items of Part-III of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale were used to evaluate ISNAs that were clustered as mild parkinsonian signs. Associations of ISNAs with imaging findings were determined through logistic regression analysis. Results: The ISNAs increase with the age and are present in all MCI types, particularly in those multiple domains, and carrying the APOE ϵ4 allele, and are associated with WMH, lacunes, BCr, and LVBr. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that cortical and subcortical vascular and atrophic processes contribute to ISNAs. Long prospective population-based studies are needed to disentangle the role of ISNAs in the conversion from MCI to dementia

Randomized controlled trial of a home-based action observation intervention to improve walking in Parkinson disease

Published in final edited form as: Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2016 May ; 97(5): 665–673. doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2015.12.029.OBJECTIVE: To examine the feasibility and efficacy of a home-based gait observation intervention for improving walking in Parkinson disease (PD). DESIGN: Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention or control condition. A baseline walking assessment, a training period at home, and a posttraining assessment were conducted. SETTING: The laboratory and participants' home and community environments. PARTICIPANTS: Nondemented individuals with PD (N=23) experiencing walking difficulty. INTERVENTION: In the gait observation (intervention) condition, participants viewed videos of healthy and parkinsonian gait. In the landscape observation (control) condition, participants viewed videos of moving water. These tasks were completed daily for 8 days. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Spatiotemporal walking variables were assessed using accelerometers in the laboratory (baseline and posttraining assessments) and continuously at home during the training period. Variables included daily activity, walking speed, stride length, stride frequency, leg swing time, and gait asymmetry. Questionnaires including the 39-item Parkinson Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39) were administered to determine self-reported change in walking, as well as feasibility. RESULTS: At posttraining assessment, only the gait observation group reported significantly improved mobility (PDQ-39). No improvements were seen in accelerometer-derived walking data. Participants found the at-home training tasks and accelerometer feasible to use. CONCLUSIONS: Participants found procedures feasible and reported improved mobility, suggesting that observational training holds promise in the rehabilitation of walking in PD. Observational training alone, however, may not be sufficient to enhance walking in PD. A more challenging and adaptive task, and the use of explicit perceptual learning and practice of actions, may be required to effect change

The role of human body movements in mate selection

It is common scientific knowledge, that most of what we say within a conversation is not only expressed by the words meaning alone, but also through our gestures, postures, and body movements. This non-verbal mode is possibly rooted firmly in our human evolutionary heritage, and as such, some scientists argue that it serves as a fundamental assessment and expression tool for our inner qualities. Studies of nonverbal communication have established that a universal, culture-free, non-verbal sign system exists, that is available to all individuals for negotiating social encounters. Thus, it is not only the kind of gestures and expressions humans use in social communication, but also the way these movements are performed, as this seems to convey key information about an individuals quality. Dance, for example, is a special form of movement, which can be observed in human courtship displays. Recent research suggests that people are sensitive to the variation in dance movements, and that dance performance provides information about an individuals mate quality in terms of health and strength. This article reviews the role of body movement in human non-verbal communication, and highlights its significance in human mate preferences in order to promote future work in this research area within the evolutionary psychology framework

Action for Rehabilitation from Neurological Injury (ARNI): A pragmatic study of functional training for stroke survivors

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. Copyright @ 2013 Cherry Kilbride et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.This study evaluated the effectiveness of a twelve-week community-based functional training on measures of impairment, activity and participation in a group of stroke survivors. Isometric strength of the knee musculature, Centre-Of-Pressure (COP) based measures of balance, Berg Balance Scale (BBS), 10 m walk test, and the Subjective Index of Physical and Social Out come (SIPSO), were recorded at baseline, post-intervention, and after twelve weeks (follow-up). Exercise instructors delivered training once a week in a group format at a community centre. Significant improvement was noted in the BBS (p < 0.002), and 10 m walk speed (p = 0.03) post intervention which remained unchanged at follow-up. Total SIPSO score improved significantly post-intervention (p = 0.044). No other significant differences and no adverse effects were observed. It is possible that functional training provided more opportunity for the improvement of dynamic aspects of balance control that could be captured by the BBS but not with the traditional measures of balance using COP data. Results also suggest positive effects on the level of participation, and lack of association between measures of impairment and activity. Community based functional training could be effective and used to extend access to rehabilitation services beyond the acute and sub-acute stages after stroke.London Borough of Hillingdo

THE INFLUENCE OF MOOD DURING TREADMILL RUNNING ON BIOMECHANICAL ASYMMETRY OF THE LOWER-LIMB

This study aimed to investigate if mood effects lower-limb biomechanical asymmetry during running. Twenty runners (13M, 7F; age 22-58 years), performed four 3-minute runs at their 5km pace (3.3 ± 0.3 m/s), preceded by a mood questionnaire. Baseline data were captured, followed by randomised mood conditions: anger, happiness, and sadness; elicited with film clips and music. Symmetry angles used for analysis. In the sadness condition, compared with baseline, biomechanical asymmetry significantly increased (p \u3c .05) by 3.7% at ground contact for hip abduction, and at toe-off for knee abduction by 0.6% and internal rotation by 1.1%. Toe-off plantarflexion asymmetry decreased by 2.2% with anger, compared to baseline. Happiness did not appear to affect asymmetry. Results suggest sadness may increase asymmetry and associated overuse injury risk, and anger may facilitate symmetry