Browsing School of Applied Physiology Theses and Dissertations by Title
Now showing items 1-20 of 28
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Adaptation of locomotor control in able and impaired human walking
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2014-06-13)Extensive research has documented the stereotypical kinematic and kinetic patterns in healthy human walking, but we have a limited understanding of the neuromechanical control principles that contribute to their execution. ... -
Altered intermuscular force feedback after spinal cord injury in cat
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015-07-24)Bipeds and quadrupeds are inherently unstable and their bodies sway during quiet stance and require complex patterns of muscle activation to produce direction-specific forces to control the body’s center of mass. The ... -
Autogenic and intermuscular pathways in cats with partial spinal cord lesions
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2019-01-15)Bipeds, like humans, stand with two-thirds of their body mass at about two-thirds of their body height above the ground, which, distributed within a relatively narrow base of support, makes us an inherently unstable system. ... -
Changes in leg and joint coordination during locomotor adaptation in amputees and able-bodied controls
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2016-06-06)Activities of daily life require humans to locomote in unfamiliar environments. We respond to these new environments through adaptation, a gradual change in movement parameters in response to a sensory error caused by ... -
Does dehydration affect brain structure, function, and cognitive-motor performance?
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2018-04-06)There is reason to believe body water deficits (dehydration) adversely impact the central nervous system despite protective physiological mechanisms to maintain brain homeostasis. Early animal models suggested severe ... -
Dynamic stability of quadrupedal locomotion: animal model, cortical control and prosthetic gait
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2012-11-13)The ability to control balance and stability are essential to prevent falls during locomotion. Maintenance of stable locomotion is challenging especially when complicated by amputation and prosthesis use. Humans employ ... -
Fatigue mechanisms in sedentary and endurance trained adults: effects of nutritional countermeasures
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015-04-08)Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for chronic disease; yet the majority of the population does not meet physical activity recommendations, with fatigue being a primary underlying reason. Common nutritional supplements ... -
Influencing motor behavior through constraint of lower limb movement
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015-04-29)Limited knowledge of the neuromechanical response to use of an ankle foot orthosis-footwear combination (AFO-FC) has created a lack of consensus in understanding orthotic motion control as a therapeutic treatment. Lack of ... -
Injury compensation reveals implicit goals that guide locomotor coordination
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2012-04-08)Locomotion persists despite changes in external and internal circumstances. Motor responses to gait impairment exhibit commonalities across various taxa and types of injury, yet we lack a systematic understanding of ... -
Limb position sense: Role of limb posture, visual experience, and input from muscle spindle Ia afferents
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2019-04-02)Limb position sense is the ability to determine location and orientation of limb segments with respect to each other and with respect to the external environment without vision. Limb position sense is critical for accurate ... -
Mechanical and metabolic stresses contribute to high force contraction signaling
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2012-03-27)Force production by a muscle is critical to maintaining proper function and overall health of a human or animal. Muscle adapts to increased loading with hypertrophy by activating a number of intracellular signaling cascades ... -
Mechanisms and implications of sodium loss in sweat during exercise in the heat for patients with cystic fibrosis and healthy individuals
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009-11-17)Our aim was to understand mechanisms responsible for excessive electrolyte loss in the sweat gland and the potential impact on fluid balance during exercise in heat stress conditions. Human physiological testing under ... -
Mechanisms of coordination between one- and two-joint synergist muscles
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2016-04-15)Major muscle groups (e.g. triceps surae, quadriceps, hamstrings, triceps brachii) contain synergist muscles that cross either one or two joints; they are called one- and two-joint muscles. The functional significance of ... -
Motor control in persons with a trans-tibial amputation during cycling
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2011-07-06)Motor control of any movement task involves the integration of neural, muscular and skeletal systems. This integration must occur throughout the sensorimotor system and focus its efforts on controlling the system endpoint, ... -
Motor learning and its transfer during bilateral arm reaching.
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2011-06-09)Have you ever attempted to rub your abdomen with one hand while tapping your head with the other? Separately these movements are easy to perform but doing them together (bilateral task) requires motor adaptation. Motor ... -
Neurobehavioral quantification of the transition to explicit awareness in skilled motor learning: Implications for rehabilitation
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2017-11-08)We often take for granted the ability to learn and execute sequential movements in a smooth, automatic manner on a continual daily basis. Unfortunately, many patient populations exhibit deficits in motor learning, impairing ... -
Neuromechanical activity of the wrist muscles during stabilization tasks
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2017-08-28)Wrist joint stability is vital to hand function and thus overall upper limb function. The overarching goal of the study is to understand the neuromuscular control and mechanical properties of the wrist muscles for wrist ... -
Neuromechanics of locomotion: Insights from the walk-to-run transition in amputees and pedaling in able-bodied individuals
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015-10-16)Afferent feedback is important for modulating locomotion and maintaining stability. Studying locomotor extremes and applying perturbations to normal locomotion allows us to probe the effects of afferent feedback on the ... -
Promoting enhanced motor planning in prosthesis users via matched limb imitation
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2014-03-13)As of 2005, there were over 1.5 million amputees living in the United States, more than 548,000 of them with upper extremity involvement. The total number of amputees is projected to rise to at least 2.2 million by 2020. ... -
Quadrupedal locomotion with a unilateral bone-anchored transtibial prosthesis in the cat
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2017-11-10)Bone-anchored limb prostheses offer numerous advantages over conventional socket-supported prostheses. As opposed to socket prostheses, loads on a bone-anchored prosthetic limb during natural activities are directly ...