| 1. |
- Bäckström, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Motor planning and movement execution during goal-directed sequential manual movements in 6-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder : A kinematic analysis
- 2021
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Ingår i: Research in Developmental Disabilities. - : Elsevier. - 0891-4222 .- 1873-3379. ; 115
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Atypical motor functioning is prevalent in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Knowledge of the underlying kinematic properties of these problems is sparse.Aims: To investigate characteristics of manual motor planning and performance difficulties/diversity in children with ASD by detailed kinematic measurements. Further, associations between movement parameters and cognitive functions were explored.Methods and procedures: Six-year-old children with ASD (N = 12) and typically developing (TD) peers (N = 12) performed a sequential manual task comprising grasping and fitting a semi-circular peg into a goal-slot. The goal-slot orientation was manipulated to impose different motor planning constraints. Movements were recorded by an optoelectronic system.Outcomes and results: The ASD-group displayed less efficient motor planning than the TD-group, evident in the reach-to-grasp and transport kinematics and less proactive adjustments of the peg to the goal-slot orientations. The intra-individual variation of movement kinematics was higher in the ASD-group compared to the TD-group. Further, in the ASD-group, movement performance associated negatively with cognitive functions.Conclusions and implications: Planning and execution of sequential manual movements proved challenging for children with ASD, likely contributing to problems in everyday actions. Detailed kinematic investigations contribute to the generation of specific knowledge about the nature of atypical motor performance/diversity in ASD. This is of potential clinical relevance.
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| 2. |
- Eriksson, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Skeletal muscle morphology in power-lifters with and without anabolic steroids
- 2005
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Ingår i: Histochemistry and Cell Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0948-6143 .- 1432-119X. ; 124:2, s. 167-175
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The morphological appearance of the vastus lateralis (VL) muscle from high-level power-lifters on long-term anabolic steroid supplementation (PAS) and power-lifters never taking anabolic steroids (P) was compared. The effects of long- and short-term supplementation were compared. Enzyme-immunohistochemical investigations were performed to assess muscle fiber type composition, fiber area, number of myonuclei per fiber, internal myonuclei, myonuclear domains and proportion of satellite cells. The PAS group had larger type I, IIA, IIAB and IIC fiber areas (p<0.05). The number of myonuclei/fiber and the proportion of central nuclei were significantly higher in the PAS group (p<0.05). Similar results were seen in the trapezius muscle (T) but additionally, in T the proportion of fibers expressing developmental myosin isoforms was higher in the PAS group compared to the P group. Further, in VL, the PAS group had significantly larger nuclear domains in fibers containing > or = 5 myonuclei. The results of AS on VL morphology in this study were similar to previously reported short-term effects of AS on VL. The initial effects from AS appear to be maintained for several years.
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| 3. |
- Johansson, Anna-Maria, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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Development of motor imagery in school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder : a longitudinal study
- 2022
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Ingår i: Brain Sciences. - : MDPI. - 2076-3425. ; 12:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a diagnosis based on social communication deficits and prevalence of repetitive stereotyped behaviors, but sensorimotor disturbances are commonly exhibited. This longitudinal study aimed at exploring the development of the ability to form mental motor representations (motor imagery; MI) in 14 children with ASD and 17 typically developing (TD) children at 7, 8 and 9 years of age. MI was investigated using a hand laterality paradigm from which response times (RT) and error rates were extracted and compared with performance on a visually based mental rotation task (VI). A criterion task was used to ensure that the children could perform the task. The results showed wide performance variability in the ASD group with more failures than TD in the MI criterion task, especially at 7 years. For all age levels and both the MI and VI tasks, the error rates were significantly higher and RTs longer for the ASD group compared with TD. Signs of MI strategies were however noted in the ASD group as biomechanically constrained orientations had longer RTs than less constrained orientations, a RT pattern that differed from the VI task. The presence of MI in the ASD group was most evident at 9 years, but the error rates remained high at all ages, both in the MI and VI task. In comparison, the TD group showed stable MI strategies at all ages. These findings indicate that MI ability is delayed and/or impaired in children with ASD which may be related to difficulties performing required mental rotations.
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| 4. |
- Knutsson, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Postprandial responses of glucose, insulin and triglycerides : Influence of the timing of meal intake during night work
- 2002
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Ingår i: Nutrition and Health. - : SAGE Publications. - 0260-1060 .- 2047-945X. ; 16, s. 133-141
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The objective was to study the postprandial responses of glucose, insulin and triglycerides to meal intake at different clock times during night work. Eleven night shift working nurses participated. Identical test meals were ingested at 19:30, 23:30 and 03:30, and contained 440 kcal/ 1860 kJ of energy (33 E% fat, 51 E% carbohydrate, 16 E% protein). The food intake was standardized three days before the first test meal. Blood samples were drawn just before the test meals were ingested and thereafter at 30, 60, 90, 120, 180 and 240 minutes. The postprandial responses were estimated as the total area under the curve (AUC) and significance testing was done using repeated measures ANOVA. The highest insulin level was found after meal intake at 23:30, and the lowest after meal intake 03:30. The glucose response showed the same pattern. The insulin response to food intake in night working nurses is more pronounced in the night compared with morning and evening. The results would have implications for metabolic and cardiovascular disorders in night workers.
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| 5. |
- Röijezon, Ulrik, 1970-, et al.
(författare)
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A novel method for neck coordination exercise : a pilot study on persons with chronic non-specific neck pain
- 2008
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Ingår i: Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1743-0003. ; 5, s. 36-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Chronic neck pain is a common problem and is often associated with changes in sensorimotor functions, such as reduced proprioceptive acuity of the neck, altered coordination of the cervical muscles, and increased postural sway. In line with these findings there are studies supporting the efficacy of exercises targeting different aspects of sensorimotor function, for example training aimed at improving proprioception and muscle coordination. To further develop this type of exercises we have designed a novel device and method for neck coordination training. The aim of the study was to investigate the clinical applicability of the method and to obtain indications of preliminary effects on sensorimotor functions, symptoms and self-rated characteristics in non-specific chronic neck painMETHODS: The study was designed as an uncontrolled clinical trial including fourteen subjects with chronic non-specific neck pain. A new device was designed to allow for an open skills task with adjustable difficulty. With visual feedback, subjects had to control the movement of a metal ball on a flat surface with a rim strapped on the subjects' head. Eight training sessions were performed over a four week period. Skill acquisition was measured throughout the intervention period. After intervention subjects were interviewed about their experience of the exercise and pain and sensorimotor functions, including the fast and slow components of postural sway and jerkiness-, range-, position sense-, movement time- and velocity of cervical rotation, were measured. At six-month follow up, self-rated pain, health and functioning was collected.RESULTS: The subjects improved their skill to perform the exercise and were overall positive to the method. No residual negative side-effects due to the exercise were reported. After intervention the fast component of postural sway (p = 0.019) and jerkiness of cervical rotation (p = 0.032) were reduced. The follow up showed decreased disability (one out of three indices) and fear of movement, and increased general health (three out of eight dimensions).CONCLUSION: The results support the clinical applicability of the method. The improvements in sensorimotor functions may suggest transfer from the exercise to other, non-task specific motor functions and justifies a future randomized controlled trial.
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| 6. |
- Domellöf, Erik, 1970-, et al.
(författare)
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Brain activations during execution and observation of visually guided sequential manual movements in autism and in typical development: A study protocol
- 2024
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 19:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Motor issues are frequently observed accompanying core deficits in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Impaired motor behavior has also been linked to cognitive and social abnormalities, and problems with predictive ability have been suggested to play an important, possibly shared, part across all these domains. Brain imaging of sensory-motor behavior is a promising method for characterizing the neurobiological foundation for this proposed key trait. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) developmental study, involving children/youth with ASD, typically developing (TD) children/youth, and neurotypical adults, will investigate brain activations during execution and observation of a visually guided, goal-directed sequential (two-step) manual task. Neural processing related to both execution and observation of the task, as well as activation patterns during the preparation stage before execution/observation will be investigated. Main regions of interest include frontoparietal and occipitotemporal cortical areas, the human mirror neuron system (MNS), and the cerebellum.
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| 7. |
- Marsh, John E., et al.
(författare)
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Executive Processes Underpin the Bilingual Advantage on Phonemic Fluency : Evidence From Analyses of Switching and Clustering
- 2019
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Psychology. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 1664-1078. ; 10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bilinguals often show a disadvantage in lexical access on verbal fluency tasks wherein the criteria require the production of words from semantic categories. However, the pattern is more heterogeneous for letter (phonemic) fluency wherein the task is to produce words beginning with a given letter. Here, bilinguals often outperform monolinguals. One explanation for this is that phonemic fluency, as compared with semantic fluency, is more greatly underpinned by executive processes and that bilinguals exhibit better performance on phonemic fluency due to better executive functions. In this study, we re-analyzed phonemic fluency data from the Betula study, scoring outputs according to two measures that purportedly reflect executive processes: clustering and switching. Consistent with the notion that bilinguals have superior executive processes and that these can be used to offset a bilingual disadvantage in verbal fluency, bilinguals (35-65 years at baseline) demonstrated greater switching and clustering throughout the 15-year study period.
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| 8. |
- Michaelson, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Factors predicting pain reduction in chronic back and neck pain after multimodal treatment.
- 2004
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Ingår i: The Clinical Journal of Pain. - : Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). - 0749-8047 .- 1536-5409. ; 20:6, s. 447-454
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: To determine whether treatment related pain reduction on the short- and long-term is predicted by different baseline variables, and with different accuracy, in patients with chronic low back pain as compared with those with chronic neck pain. DESIGN AND METHODS: A single blinded prospective cohort study based on patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain in the lower back (N = 167) or the neck (N = 136) who completed a 4-week multimodal rehabilitation program. At admission, each patient was evaluated on 17 potential predictors, including pain characteristics and physical, sociodemographic, and psychosocial-behavioral variables. Changes in self-reported pain intensity in the lower back or the neck between the pretreatment evaluation and those performed immediately after, and 12 months after the rehabilitation program, were assessed. RESULTS: Logistic regression models revealed that change in pain intensity could be predicted with good specificity but with poor sensitivity both for patients with chronic low back pain and chronic neck pain. Significant predictors among the neck pain patients were high endurance, low age, high pain intensity, few other symptoms, low need of being social, to do things with others, and to be helped, along with optimistic attitudes on how the pain will interfere with daily life. Among the low back pain patients, high pain intensity, low levels of pain severity, and high affective distress were important predictors. Variables such as sex, sick leave history, working status, accident, pain duration, and depressive symptoms demonstrated no predictive value. Short- and long-term pain outcome was equally predictable and predicted by almost the same variables. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who reported unchanged or increased pain after multimodal treatment could be predicted with good accuracy, whereas those who reported decreased pain were more difficult to identify. Treatment-related pain alteration in chronic low back pain seems to be predicted by partly different variables than in chronic neck pain.
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| 9. |
- Richter, Hans O., et al.
(författare)
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Long-term adaptation to neck/shoulder pain and perceptual performance in a hand laterality motor imagery test
- 2010
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Ingår i: Perception. - : Sage Publications. - 0301-0066 .- 1468-4233. ; 39:1, s. 119-130
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The effect of neck/shoulder pain on the performance in a hand laterality motor imagery test was studied. Responses to the Cooper and Shepard (1975, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 104 48–56) hand laterality test were explored in twenty-four individuals with chronic non-specific neck pain and twenty-one subjects with chronic neck pain of traumatic origin (whiplash-associated disorder). Twenty-two controls were also included in the study. Digitalised right- or left-hand stimuli were presented at five different stimulus angles (0°, 45° laterally, 90° laterally, 135° laterally, and 180°). The experimental task was to decide the laterality as fast and accurately as possible. The performance, both reaction time (RT) and accuracy, of the two experimental groups was contrasted with that of the control group. The main results revealed that the subjects afflicted with whiplash injury on the average exhibited a faster response pattern than symptom-free healthy controls. Despite their musculoskeletal deficits and experience of pain these volunteers also exhibited a preserved speed–accuracy tradeoff. Longer duration of time with symptoms of neck pain was, moreover, associated with progressively faster RTs. These results point to perceptual learning and may reflect different stages of adaptation to neck pain.
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| 10. |
- Röijezon, Ulrik, et al.
(författare)
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The slow and fast components of postural sway in chronic neck pain
- 2011
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Ingår i: Manual Therapy. - : Elsevier BV. - 1356-689X .- 1532-2769. ; 16:3, s. 273-278
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: To evaluate the slow and fast components of postural control in quiet stance in subjects with chronic neck pain, associations between postural sway and self-rated characteristics and to study the impact of anthropometrics on postural sway.Design: A single-blinded cross-sectional study including two separate data collections.Subjects: Sample 1: Persons with chronic non-specific neck pain (NS, n=24), whiplash associated disorders (WAD, n=21). Healthy subjects were controls (CON, n=21). Sample 2: Women only, 98 NS and 32 CON subjects.Methods: Subject performed a quiet stance test with eyes closed on a force platform while the center of pressure (CoP) trajectory was measured. Sample 1 was tested on a firm surface for 30 seconds, while sample 2 was tested on both firm and foam surfaces for 190 seconds. The CoP signal was decomposed into the slow and fast components and the magnitude of these signals were calculated. Anthropometrics were included as covariate in the analysis of group differences if correlated with postural sway variables. Group differences in the sway variables were evaluated, as well as association between postural sway and self-ratings of symptoms, functioning and kinesiophobia.Results: Increased magnitude of the slow sway component was found for both neck pain groups. Increasing age was associated with increased magnitude of the fast component. Surface conditions had no effect on group difference. For WAD, associations were found between the magnitude of the slow component and self-rated characteristics related to physical functioning, sensory alterations and psychosocial functioning. For NS, concurrent low back pain was associated with increased postural sway.Conclusion: Postural control can be altered in chronic neck pain. This effect was present only for the slow sway component, which implies aberration in sensory feedback or processing of sensory information. Associations between postural sway and self-rated characteristics in WAD support the clinical validity of postural control assessment in this group. Increased postural sway found in NS with concurrent low back pain suggests an important role of generalised spinal pain on postural control alterations.
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