The effect of forward head posture on cervical joint position sense

A number of studies have investigated the effect of age, trauma, disease and fatigue on cervical joint position sense. However, there is an absence in data regarding the role of posture on proprioception. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of Forward Head Posture (FHP) on cervical joint position sense. Twenty Forward Head Posture volunteers (14 women, 6 men), with the mean age of 23.94 (SD=3.26) years, and 17 normal head posture volunteers (8 women, 9 men) with the mean age of 23.50 (SD=2.68) years were asked to perform the Cervicocephalic relocation test (CRT) to the neutral head position (NHP). The aim of this test was to evaluate the participants' ability to relocate the head to neutral position after they actively rotated it to left and right sides. Three trials were performed for each rotation to the left and right. In order to assess cervical joint repositioning accuracy, Absolute, Constant and Variable errors were used. No significant difference in repositioning errors was observed between experimental and control group in absolute and constant errors (P>0.05); however, compared to normal group, Forward Head Posture subjects manifested significantly higher levels of variable errors (P<0.05). Forward Head Posture can significantly affect the positioning consistency of cervical proprioception. Nonetheless, further investigation on the effect of Forward Head Posture on cervical proprioception in altered situations is recommended.

Knee Muscle Reciprocal Co-Activation in Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome During Isokinetic Exercise: A Voluntary Response Index Analysis

Introduction: The origin of the Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS) is not still completely clear and may have a biomechanical or biochemical cause. Motor control dysfunction may have a role in this condition. Voluntary Response Index (VRI) is able to show changes in the central nervous system motor output that occur with intervention, recovery, or progression of the disorder. Therefore, the outcomes may contribute to offer another tool for PFPS motor control evaluation. The aim of the present study, therefore, was to assess the changes in the quadriceps and hamstring reciprocal coactivation patterns that may be observed in individuals with PFPS using the VRI. Methods and Materials: A total of 24 female participants, 12 with sound knees and 12 with PFPS participated in the present study. The study was accomplished in the Biomechanics Laboratory at Rehabilitation School of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2015. The participants sat on a Biodex dynamometer. They were asked to perform 10 continuous knee extension and flexion motions with maximal strength at 45˚/s and 300˚/s, distinctly. Simultaneously, electromyographic activities of the vastus medialis (VM), vastus lateralis (VL), rectus femoris (RF), and biceps femoris (BF) were recorded and VRI was calculated. A two-way analysis of variance was run to assess the effect of group and velocity on the VRI (similarity index and magnitude). Results: There was no velocity or group main effect observed for the VRI (P>0.05). In addition, no significant velocity × group interaction was found for the VRI (P>0.05). Conclusion: PFPS may not be linked to altered quadriceps and hamstring reciprocal co-activation patterns during isokinetic exercise. In addition, angular velocity may not be an important parameter in voluntary motor control assessment during isokinetic exercise.Keywords: Reciprocal co-activation; Voluntary response index; Patellofemoral pain syndrome; Isokineti

Emotional Perception of Music in Children with Unilateral Cochlear Implants

Introduction: Cochlear implantation (CI) improves language skills among children with hearing loss. However, children with CIs still fall short of fulfilling some other needs, including musical perception. This is often attributed to the biological, technological, and acoustic limitations of CIs. Emotions play a key role in the understanding and enjoyment of music. The present study aimed to investigate the emotional perception of music in children with bilaterally severe-to-profound hearing loss and unilateral CIs.   Materials and Methods: Twenty-five children with congenital severe-to-profound hearing loss and unilateral CIs and 30 children with normal hearing participated in the study. The children’s emotional perceptions of music, as defined by Peretz (1998), were measured. Children were instructed to indicate happy or sad feelings fostered in them by the music by pointing to pictures of faces showing these emotions.   Results: Children with CI obtained significantly lower scores than children with normal hearing, for both happy and sad items of music as well as in overall test scores (

Validity and reliability of oral picture-naming test in aphasic adults

Background and Aim: One of the common problems in many types of aphasia syndromes is word retrieval and/or production difficulty. So, designing a valid test that can examine this problem based on related processes and influencing factors is important. Picture confrontation naming is a typical method for assessing and treatment of word retrieval impairments. The aim of this study was determining the validity and reliability of oral picture-naming test in assessing word retrieval ability of aphasic adults.Methods: Content and face validity of the test, that contains the line drawings of 115 Persian nouns, were assessed by speech therapists, graphists and painters. Then, the test was administered on 10 aphasics and 30 age-, gender- and education-matched normal subjects in two steps. Construct validity and internal consistency of test were investigated. External consistency was analyzed by test-retest method.Results: The content and face validity of all items were more than 90 and 85 percents, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of patients and normal subjects (p<0.001). The internal consistency of 0.98 was determined for the test. The intra-class correlation coefficient of this test was 0.98.Conclusions: The oral picture-naming test had good content, face and construct validity. Also, internal and external consistencies were high. So, this test is a valid instrument for assessing naming ability of aphasic patients by a variety and big set of picture

Effects of Fish Oil Supplementation during the Suckling Period on Auditory Neural Conduction in n-3 Fatty Acid-Deficient Rat Pups

Abstract Introduction: Omega 3 fatty acid especially in the form of fish oil, has structural and biological role in the body's various systems especially nervous system. Numerous studies have tried to research about it. Auditory is one of the affected systems. Omega 3 deficiency can have devastating effects on the nervous system and auditory. This study aimed to evaluate neural conduction in n-3 fatty acid-deficient rat pups following the supplementation of fish oil consumption during the suckling period Materials and Methods: In this interventional and experimental study, one sources of omega3 fatty acid (fish oil) were fed to rat pups of n-3 PUFA-deficient dams to compare changes in their auditory neural conduction with that of control and n-3 PUFA-deficient groups, using Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR). The parameters of interest were P1, P3, P4 absolute latency, P1-P3, P1-P4 and P3-P4 IPL , P4/P1 amplitude ratio . The rat pups were given oral fish oil, 5 Ml /g weight for 17 days, between the age of 5 and 21 days. Results There were no significant group differences in P1 and P3 absolute latency (p > 0.05). but the result in P4 was significant(P ≤ 0.05) . The n-3 PUFA deficient +vehicle had the most prolonged (the worst) P1-P4 IPL and P3-P4 IPL compared with control and n-3 PUFA deficient + FO groups. There was no significant difference in P1-P4 IPL and P3-P4 IPL between n-3 PUFA deficient + FO and control groups (p > 0.05).There was a significant effect of diet on P1-P4 IPL and P3-P4 IPL between groups (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: The results of present study showed the effect of omega3 deficiency on auditory neural structure during pregnancy and lactation period. Additionally, we observed the reduced devastating effects on neural conduction in n-3 fatty acid-deficient rat pups following the supplementation of fish oil during the suckling perio

Effect of Prophylactic Drugs on Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential in Migraine Patients

Background and Aim: In many migraine patients prophylactic drugs are effective in reducing attacks and symptoms such as vestibular complaints. Therefore, related neural pathways are probably alsoaffected. This study aimed to compare vestibular evoked myogenic potential in migraine patients under treatment with prophylactic drugs and those without any treatment.Methods: Subjects included 46 patients with migraine. They were evaluated in two groups; those under treatment with prophylactic drugs (21 subjects) and those without treatment (25 subjects). Theage range of patients was 20-60 years. The vestibular evoked myogenic potential were recorded with 500 Hz tone bursts at 95 dB nHL.Results: Mean of amplitude ratio (p=0.02), and interpeak latency values in the right ear (p=0.03) and left ear (p=0.001) were higher in patients with prophylactic therapy than the group without therapy;this difference was statistically significant. There was no statistical difference between the two groups in terms of mean of latency of p13 and n23 peaks, and absolute amplitude (p>0.05).Conclusion: Prophylactic drugs probably improve mean of main response parameters of vestibular evoked myogenic potential in migraine patients with prophylactic therapy