Impact of Conductive Education on Individuals with Stroke Syndrome

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of Conductive Education (CE) on adults with chronic stroke, replicating and expanding upon the study at Cannon Hill House (CHH) by Brown et al. We hypothesized that completing the CE program would improve function and change neural connectivity. CE is a transdisciplinary, motor-learning based intervention which uses multiple facilitations including manual facilitation, equipment, rhythmic intention (a cadence facilitation), first person verbal articulation, and the group environment to impact a person’s motor learning and rehabilitation. An aim of this pilot study was to replicate and expanded upon a previous study examining the impact of CE as an intervention for adults with chronic stroke. The location and severity of damage to the brain after a stroke influences the extent of functional limitations experienced by the stroke survivor. After injury, measurable physiological changes can be correlated with functional clinical measures. With physical rehabilitation interventions, functional impairments can be lessened, presumably through mechanisms of neuroplasticity. Thus a person’s participation may improve as a result of improved performance. Though interventions are often effective for restoring at least partial function for individuals with stroke, little is known about what underlies the positive results for specific intervention

Impact of a Conductive Education Intervention on Supraspinal Structures in Adults with Chronic Stroke

The location and severity of damage to the brain after a stroke influences the extent of functional limitations experienced by the stroke survivor. After injury, measurable physiological changes continue that can be correlated with functional clinical measures. With physical rehabilitation interventions, functional impairments can be lessened, presumably through mechanisms of neuroplasticity. Though interventions are often effective for restoring at least partial function for individuals with stroke, little is known about what underlies the positive results for specific interventions. The purpose of this URG-funded pilot study was to assess changes in neurological structure and connectivity in adults with chronic stroke after participation in a novel cognitive-physical rehabilitation intervention program known as Conductive Education (CE). Subjects: Four adults with chronic (\u3e6mo) stroke, 5+yrs post outpatient rehabilitation. Intervention: weekly, 2-hour CE program sessions for 10 weeks. Before and after CE program participation, measures of function (via clinical assessment by a licensed physical therapist) and supraspinal neurological structures (via imaging) were obtained. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data were collected to assess functional and structural connectivity, myelin concentration, and cerebral perfusion. Clinical assessment measures and imaging data were analyzed for pre/post intervention changes. MRI data revealed pontine-level lesions (n = 2/4) and subcortical lesions (n = 2/4). Results showed that changes in both physical function and imaging outcomes varied by individual but were similar for subjects with similar lesions. From this pilot study, we conclude that CE could be effective for adults with chronic stroke by inducing supraspinal changes measurable with emerging imaging techniques

Effects of orange by-product fiber incorporation on the functional and technological properties of pasta

The incorporation of fiber into products consumed every day by the general population is important and viable. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the impact of incorporating orange juice industry dietary fiber byproducts in fettuccini of fresh pasta. Three different fiber concentrations were added to fresh pastas (25 g/kg, 50 g/kg and 75 g/kg). The results showed a significant increase in solid loss content when the incorporation of orange fiber was greater than 50 g/kg. This difference did not occur regarding weight increase values and color parameters. The pasta with 75 g/kg orange fiber can be considered a “high fiber” product, with the total dietary fiber content of the pasta increasing by 99% compared to control pasta. The carotenoid and phenolic contents of pasta increased significantly with the incorporation of fiber at 75 g/kg, but only the pasta formulation with 25 g/kg of orange fiber did not differ from control pasta in relation to all of the sensory attributes and presented an acceptance greater than 75%. The addition of orange fiber byproducts to pastas is an interesting alternative because fiber has a high nutritional value and an abundance of antioxidants