Browsing by Subject "Motor"
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Item Cortical hemodynamics and motor recovery after cortical infarcts(2015-05) Woodie, Daniel Aaron; Jones, Theresa A.; Dunn, Andrew KStroke is the leading cause of disability and the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. Of those that survive a stroke, many are left with long term functional motor impairments. Spontaneous recovery of motor function occurs after a stroke and the reorganization of spared neural tissue is a contributing factor. To study motor recovery following a stroke, rodent models have been especially useful because experimental manipulations can be paired with controlled infarcts to understand physiologically relevant changes. For example, stroke to the sensory-motor cortex (SMC) in mice produces functional motor impairments which are dependent on the reorganization of the remaining cortex. Ironically, after about 20 years of research on the reorganization of the peri-lesion following cortical ischemia, there has been a lack of focus on the neuro-vascular changes as they relate to functional outcome after stroke. The central hypothesis of this report is that spontaneous vascular remodeling contributes to behavioral recovery and cortical reorganization following ischemic insult. To investigate the relationship between blood flow recovery and improvement of motor function after an ischemic insult, we developed a mouse model of upper extremity impairment after a stroke that can be repeatedly imaged in vivo. Specifically, 14 C57/BL6 mice either received photo-thrombotic cortical lesions (n=7) or vehicle procedures (n=7), were allowed 3 days to recover, and then received forelimb function probes using the pasta matrix reaching task (PMRT), an assay for skilled forelimb function, in tandem with the imaging of cortical blood flow using multi-exposure speckle imaging (MESI) at Days 3, 5, 10, and 20. Results indicate that the mice that received injections with Rose Bengal displayed significantly decreased performance on the PMRT and a significantly reduced amount of cortical blood flow compared to both their baseline performance and the control group. Skilled forelimb performance following the ischemic lesion correlated strongly with stroke severity (as indexed by cortical blood flow in the lesion core 2 hours following lesion induction). Additionally, the re-establishment of cortical blood flow to the infarct core precedes the recovery of motor performance, indicating potential importance for the re-establishment of blood flow to support the adaptive plasticity required for motor recovery.Item Developmental assessment of motor & cognitive skills(2014-12) Frost, Charles Scott; Jensen, Jody L.ABSTRACT: The C3 Logix system (i-comet technologies, 2013) is a portable evaluation tool on the iPad Air tablet computer that is currently being used as for screening concussion severity in an athlete population. The application employs a neurocognitive exam that is comprised of a battery of tests to evaluate both cognition and motor skills: reaction time, memory, processing time, postural stability, vision, and the vestibulo-ocular reflex. With the exclusion of the concussion screening questionnaire, the C3 Logix program may be an effective, portable tool to study developmental changes in executive function. The Developmental Motor and Cognition Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin has begun a project to 1) create a functional test battery from the C3 Logix system that is portable, simple and reliable in measuring motor development in children. The extant literature contains reports on individual measures of executive function as they change with age. However, the C3 Logix system provides a battery of data on the same individual that may allow for coupling of the executive function data with an assessment of motor skills into a full data collection of multiple measures. The assessment protocol developed in this report will also include functional performance measures to complement the executive function data of the C3 Logix system. The inclusion of functional assessments will yield a tool that is capable of screening for physical readiness to engage in activities that demand greater movement competence. For example, activities of competitive sport require both decision making (executive function) and physical ability for safe and satisfactory execution. The objective of this report is to support this project in three ways: 1) Create an annotated bibliography for background understanding of the tests in the C3 Logix System. 2) Consult with the literature to devise procedures for administration of three function performance tests that challenge the individual’s performance capability beyond basic fundamental motor competency, and 3) complement the description of the selected functional performance tests with video demonstrations.Item Developmental checklists : a tool for clinicians(2014-05) Wickliffe, Abigail Kay; Davis, Barbara L. (Barbara Lockett)Parents of children with developmental disabilities seek out therapy in order to assist their child to reach full potential. In order to help parents understand where their child should be in comparison to a typically developing child, they must be provided with proper resources. While commercially available assessments are available to speech-language pathologists, parents only have access to checklists that provide minimal direction at certain age ranges. The purpose of this literature review is to discuss developmental domains important for the developing child, examine developmental milestone checklists available to parents as well as two commercially available assessments for speech-language pathologists, investigate available research on developmental milestones in the areas of language output, language comprehension, cognition, social-emotional skills, and motor development, and identify ages at which developmental milestones within the identified domains occur in typically developing children. The aim of this project will be to create developmental milestone checklists available for speech-language pathologists to provide to parents.