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Upper-body motion coordination after stroke : insights from kinematic and muscle synergies Lambert-Shirzad, Navid
Abstract
Several studies suggest that the human central nervous system controls groups of muscles and/or joints (synergies) rather than controlling each muscle or joint separately to reduce the dimensionality of motor planning and execution. Furthermore, recent studies with stroke survivors indicate that motor impairment after stroke is due to a disruption in the recruitment and the combination of the motor synergies. The objective of the work in this thesis was to investigate human upper body motor coordination and to demonstrate the viability of synergistic motor control theory in describing the natural upper body movements, as well as quantifying the effects of stroke on motion generation. A critique of previous studies on this topic is that the synergies they report are task-specific and reflect the biomechanical constraints of the task rather than the neural strategies of motor control. To address this, the studies covered in this dissertation were focused on quantification of motor synergies demonstrated during exploratory motor tasks. Exploratory motions have the potential to reveal individualized motion tendencies or motor deficits. The first study compared the robustness of matrix factorization methods reported in literature to characterize motor synergies, and showed that non-negative matrix factorization is more suited for synergy analysis. The second study established how much exploratory motion data is needed to reliably extract motor synergies of healthy and stroke survivor individuals. A group of healthy adults were recruited for the third study. The results showed that motor synergies between the dominant and non-dominant hands of healthy adults are similar (within-subject similarities) and that healthy adults share a set of “healthy” motor synergies (between-subjects similarities). The fourth study explored how stroke changes motor synergies. The study showed that healthy motor synergies are preserved in the less-affected arm of stroke survivors. However, the motor synergies of the stroke-affected arm are altered through merging and fractionation of healthy synergies and these processes are a function of the individual’s impairment and time post-stroke. These results offer a better understanding of motor synergies and can improve rehabilitation practices by identifying strengthening physical therapy exercises that utilize or promote the use of “healthy” synergies.
Item Metadata
Title |
Upper-body motion coordination after stroke : insights from kinematic and muscle synergies
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
2017
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Description |
Several studies suggest that the human central nervous system controls groups of muscles and/or joints (synergies) rather than controlling each muscle or joint separately to reduce the dimensionality of motor planning and execution. Furthermore, recent studies with stroke survivors indicate that motor impairment after stroke is due to a disruption in the recruitment and the combination of the motor synergies.
The objective of the work in this thesis was to investigate human upper body motor coordination and to demonstrate the viability of synergistic motor control theory in describing the natural upper body movements, as well as quantifying the effects of stroke on motion generation.
A critique of previous studies on this topic is that the synergies they report are task-specific and reflect the biomechanical constraints of the task rather than the neural strategies of motor control. To address this, the studies covered in this dissertation were focused on quantification of motor synergies demonstrated during exploratory motor tasks. Exploratory motions have the potential to reveal individualized motion tendencies or motor deficits.
The first study compared the robustness of matrix factorization methods reported in literature to characterize motor synergies, and showed that non-negative matrix factorization is more suited for synergy analysis. The second study established how much exploratory motion data is needed to reliably extract motor synergies of healthy and stroke survivor individuals. A group of healthy adults were recruited for the third study. The results showed that motor synergies between the dominant and non-dominant hands of healthy adults are similar (within-subject similarities) and that healthy adults share a set of “healthy” motor synergies (between-subjects similarities). The fourth study explored how stroke changes motor synergies. The study showed that healthy motor synergies are preserved in the less-affected arm of stroke survivors. However, the motor synergies of the stroke-affected arm are altered through merging and fractionation of healthy synergies and these processes are a function of the individual’s impairment and time post-stroke.
These results offer a better understanding of motor synergies and can improve rehabilitation practices by identifying strengthening physical therapy exercises that utilize or promote the use of “healthy” synergies.
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Genre | |
Type | |
Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2017-10-05
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0356397
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
2017-11
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Rights URI | |
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International