Background/Objectives: The aim of our study was to evaluate the transverse stiffness of selected soft tissues in the knee joint region on the previously injured and uninjured sides of female handball players and non-athlete women, in the lying and standing positions, and to investigate the relationship between stiffness, age, sporting practice, and clinical assessments of the knees. Methods: A total of 25 young female handball players (the SPORT group) and 27 healthy non-athletic individuals (the CONTROL group) were examined. The MyotonPRO device was used to measure the stiffness of the patellar tendon (PT), rectus femoris (RF), and biceps femoris (BF) muscles on both sides and in both positions. The function of the knee joints was clinically assessed using the Knee Outcome Survey-Sports Activities Scale and the Lysholm Knee Scoring Scale. Results: ANOVA indicated a significant effect of group (p < 0.003) on the PT's stiffness, and a significant effect of position (p < 0.0001) on the PT, RF, and BF muscle stiffness. The SPORT group demonstrated significantly higher PT transverse stiffness when lying down (p < 0.01), but not when sitting up (p > 0.05), compared to the CONTROL group. Significant negative correlations were found between PT stiffness and both clinical scales in the SPORT group (rho from -0.39 to -0.71, p < 0.05). Conclusions: In female handball players, only the patellar tendon transverse stiffness was higher than in the control group. While this higher stiffness could indicate an adaptive rebuilding process, it was negatively correlated with the clinical assessment of joint function, meaning poorer knee joint function.

BACKGROUND This study aimed to evaluate the effect of standing and sitting positions on spinal curvatures evaluated using projection moire and muscle tone and stiffness using the MyotonPRO hand-held device in young women. MATERIAL AND METHODS Thirty-three healthy women, aged 21 to 23 years, volunteered in the study. We used the projection moire method to examine spinal curvatures in both positions and the MyotonPRO device to measure the tone and stiffness of muscles in 3 regions. We evaluated the effects of positions (standing vs sitting), regions (cervical, thoracic, and lumbar), and side factor (right vs left) using multivariate analysis. RESULTS The sitting position significantly decreased the lumbosacral and thoracolumbar angles (P<0.001), but had no effect on the superior thoracic angle. Muscle tension and stiffness were the highest (P<0.001) in the cervical region and did not differ between positions (P>0.05) in this region. We found significantly higher muscle tone and stiffness in the thoracic and lumbar regions during sitting than during standing (P<0.001). There was symmetry in the muscle tone and the stiffness between the right and left sides of the spine. CONCLUSIONS The sitting posture decreased lumbosacral and thoracolumbar angles but increased muscle tension and stiffness in the lumbar and thoracic regions only. The symmetry of muscle tone and transverse stiffness in both positions was the normative value. This study provides insight into the adaptive physiological changes in spinal curvature and muscle mechanical properties in young women and serves as an important reference point for clinical studies of women.

The study aimed to determine whether four weeks of motor imagery training (MIT) of goal-directed reaching (reaching to grasp task) would affect the cortical activity during motor imagery of reaching (MIR) and grasping (MIG) in the same way. We examined cortical activity regarding event-related potentials (ERPs) in healthy young participants. Our study also evaluated the subjective vividness of the imagery. Furthermore, we aimed to determine the relationship between the subjective assessment of motor imagery (MI) ability to reach and grasp and the cortical activity during those tasks before and after training to understand the underlying neuroplasticity mechanisms. Twenty-seven volunteers participated in MIT of goal-directed reaching and two measurement sessions before and after MIT. During the sessions 128-channel electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded during MIR and MIG. Also, participants assessed the vividness of the MI tasks using a visual analog scale (VAS). The vividness of imagination improved significantly ( P < .05) after MIT. A repeated measures ANOVA showed that the task (MIR/MIG) and the location of electrodes had a significant effect on the ERP's amplitude ( P < .05). The interaction between the task, location, and session (before/after MIT) also had a significant effect on the ERP's amplitude ( P < .05). Finally, the location of electrodes and the interaction between location and session had a significant effect on the ERP's latency ( P < .05). We found that MIT influenced the EEG signal associated with reaching differently than grasping. The effect was more pronounced for MIR than for MIG. Correlation analysis showed that changes in the assessed parameters due to MIT reduced the relationship between the subjective evaluation of imagining and the EEG signal. This finding means that the subjective evaluation of imagining cannot be a simple, functional insight into the bioelectrical activity of the cerebral cortex expressed by the ERPs in mental training. The changes we noted in ERPs after MIT may benefit the use of non-invasive EEG in the brain-computer interface (BCI) context. Trial registration: NCT04048083.

Background.The aim of this study was to assess to what extent changing the measurement point affected the results of myometric parameters describing muscle mechanical properties assessed by a MyotonPRO ® device in three skeletal muscles: the biceps brachii (BB), tibialis anterior (TA) and rectus femoris (RF).We hypothesised that muscle mechanical properties would change differently as the myometry probe was moved towards the proximal or distal part of a muscle.Methods.Sixteen untrained, healthy, young male students participated in the study.Myometric frequency, stiffness, decrement, relaxation and creep parameters were measured in the BB, RF and TA of the right and left sides of the body at five measurement points: the central point of a muscle, and points shifted by 10% and 20% of the muscle length proximally and distally from the central point.A multivariate: 5 (measurement points) × 3 (muscle) analysis of variance (MANOVA) for each of the parameters separately was used for the main analysis.Results.MANOVA showed that measurement point (the location), muscle and interaction between measurement point and muscle have an impact on all measured parameters (P < 0.05) except interaction between measurement point and muscle in relaxation parameter (P > 0.05).Differences in myometric values were shown for both measurement points located distant from each other, as well as for those located adjacent to each other.Conclusions Our results emphasized the variation in muscle properties along the long axis of chosen skeletal muscles expressed by myometry outcomes.

This study explored the effect of kinesthetic motor imagery training on reaching-to-grasp movement supplemented by a virtual environment in a patient with congenital bilateral transverse upper-limb deficiency. Based on a theoretical assumption, it is possible to conduct such training in this patient. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether cortical activity related to motor imagery of reaching and motor imagery of grasping of the right upper limb was changed by computer-aided imagery training (CAIT) in a patient who was born without upper limbs compared to a healthy control subject, as characterized by multi-channel electroencephalography (EEG) signals recorded before and 4, 8, and 12 weeks after CAIT. The main task during CAIT was to kinesthetically imagine the execution of reaching-to-grasp movements without any muscle activation, supplemented by computer visualization of movements provided by a special headset. Our experiment showed that CAIT can be conducted in the patient with higher vividness of imagery for reaching than grasping tasks. Our results confirm that CAIT can change brain activation patterns in areas related to motor planning and the execution of reaching and grasping movements, and that the effect was more pronounced in the patient than in the healthy control subject. The results show that CAIT has a different effect on the cortical activity related to the motor imagery of a reaching task than on the cortical activity related to the motor imagery of a grasping task. The change observed in the activation patterns could indicate CAIT-induced neuroplasticity, which could potentially be useful in rehabilitation or brain-computer interface purposes for such patients, especially before and after transplantation. This study was part of a registered experiment (ID: NCT04048083).

Background The aim of the study was to compare the mechanical properties of three human skeletal muscles: biceps brachii (BB), rectus femoris (RF), and tibialis anterior (TA) at rest measured by myoton device in males (n = 16, mean age 21.2 ± 0.6 years) and females (n = 16; 21.2 ± 0.9 years) and to investigate the influence of skin and subcutaneous tissue thickness (skinfold thickness, SFT) and gender on myometric parameters of the three skeletal muscles. Methods We measured the following mechanical and viscoelastic muscle properties using MyotonPRO®: frequency (F [Hz]), decrement (D [log]), stiffness (S [N/m]), relaxation time (R [ms]) and creepability (C [De]). The values of SFT for all selected muscles were assessed by caliper. A mixed-design analysis of variance with gender as between subject comparison was used for assessing the differences between gender and muscles in SFT and each of the myometric parameters separately (F, D, S, R and C). Pearson correlation coefficient or Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient between SFT and myometric parameters was conducted for males, females and males and females together. The level of statistical significance was set at α ≤ 0.05 with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Results The SFT over the RF, TA, and BB muscles in women was statistically significantly larger compared with that of males. In females and males, the SFT over the RF was larger than over the TA and BB, and the SFT over the TA was larger compared with over the BB. The values of F and S recorded for the TA muscle were the highest among the three muscles, while D, C, and R were lowest in TA but highest in the RF muscle in men and women. The values of F and S were smaller in females than in males. Gender comparison of D, C, and R values showed that only D for the RF was significantly lower in females than in males, and C for the RF and TA was significantly larger in females than in males. Some correlation between SFT and myometric parameters were different between males and females. For example, there was a significant, negative correlation between SFT and F for all muscles in females, and a significant, positive correlation between these parameters for BB and TA (not for RF) in males. For pooled data (males and females together), a negative significant correlation between SFT and F was observed for RF and TA (not significant for BB muscle). Discussion It is concluded that the TA compared with the BB and RF has significantly greater F and S but the smallest D and C and the shortest R. Gender and muscle differences in the SFT may affect the measurements of muscle properties using MyotonPRO®. The relationship between SFT and myometric parameters is different in males and females in the RF, TA, and BB muscles. Therefore, the myometric data should be analyzed in males and females separately.

Background The aim of this study was to determine whether computer-aided training (CAT) of motor tasks would increase muscle activity and change its spatial distribution in a patient with a bilateral upper-limb congenital transverse deficiency. We believe that our study makes a significant contribution to the literature because it demonstrates the usefulness of CAT in promoting the neuromuscular adaptation in people with congenital limb deficiencies and altered body image. Case presentation The patient with bilateral upper-limb congenital transverse deficiency and the healthy control subject performed 12 weeks of the CAT. The subject’s task was to imagine reaching and grasping a book with the hand. Subjects were provided a visual animation of that movement and sensory feedback to facilitate the mental engagement to accomplish the task. High-density electromyography (HD-EMG; 64-electrode) were collected from the trapezius muscle during a shrug isometric contraction before and after 4, 8, 12 weeks of the training. After training, we observed in our patient changes in the spatial distribution of the activation, and the increased average intensity of the EMG maps and maximal force. Conclusions These results, although from only one patient, suggest that mental training supported by computer-generated visual and sensory stimuli leads to beneficial changes in muscle strength and activity. The increased muscle activation and changed spatial distribution of the EMG activity after mental training may indicate the training-induced functional plasticity of the motor activation strategy within the trapezius muscle in individual with bilateral upper-limb congenital transverse deficiency. Marked changes in spatial distribution during the submaximal contraction in the patient after training could be associated with changes of the neural drive to the muscle, which corresponds with specific (unfamiliar for patient) motor task. These findings are relevant to neuromuscular functional rehabilitation in patients with a bilateral upper-limb congenital transverse deficiency especially before and after upper limb transplantation and to development of the EMG based prostheses.

Motor imagery (MI) is the mental practice of an action without any physical movement or without any muscle activation. It has been shown that imagination leads to the activation of the brain areas as motor learning. This preliminary study tested a hypothesis whether motor planning and execution change by different brain regions and a reaching-and-grasping MI task for both dominant and non-dominant side upper limbs. Results show that for both sides, brain regions' activations change similarly, before and after movement on-site with statistically significant differences occur throughout the motor strip (left and right) and around the visual cortex. This suggests that for people who have not MI trained before, brain activation is similar regardless of the dominant side of the limb.

OBJECTIVE:To examine the effects of cycloergometric interval training on parkinsonian rigidity, relaxed biceps brachii muscle tone in affected upper extremities, and serum level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor.DESIGN:Case series, repeated-measures design, pilot study.SUBJECTS/PATIENTS:Eleven patients with mild-to-moderate Parkinson's disease (Hoehn & Yahr scale 2.3 ± 0.72), recruited from a neurological clinic, underwent cycle training and were tested along with non-trained, healthy control subjects (n = 11) in a motor control laboratory.METHODS:Patients underwent 8 weeks of interval training (3 × 1-h sessions weekly, consisting of a 10-min warm-up, 40 min of interval exercise, and 10-min cool-down) on a stationary cycloergometer. Parkinsonian rigidity (Unified Parkinson's Disease-Rating-Scale) in the upper extremity, resting biceps brachii muscle tone (myometric stiffness and frequency), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor level were measured 1-3 days before interval training cycle started and 6-10 days after the last training session.RESULTS:Training resulted in a decrease in rigidity (p = 0.048) and biceps brachii myometric muscle stiffness (p = 0.030) and frequency (p = 0.006), and an increase in the level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (p = 0.035) relative to pre-training values. The increase in brain-derived neurotrophic factor level correlated with improvements in parkinsonian rigidity (p = 0.025), biceps brachii myometric stiffness (p = 0.001) and frequency (p = 0.002).CONCLUSION:Training-induced alleviation of parkinsonian rigidity and muscle tone decrease may be associated with neuroplastic changes caused by a training-induced increase in the level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor.

It has been demonstrated that physical training increases serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in healthy people. The aim of this study was to establish the effect of physical training on the basal serum level of the BDNF in the Parkinson's disease patients (PD patients) in relation to their health status. Twelve PD patients (mean ± S.E.M: age 70 ± 3 years; body mass 70 ± 2 kg; height 163 ± 3 cm) performed a moderate-intensity interval training (three 1-hour training sessions weekly), lasting 8 weeks. Basal serum BDNF in the PD patients before training amounted to 10,977 ± 756 pg x mL(-1) and after 8 weeks of training it has increased to 14,206 ± 1256 pg x mL(-1) (i.e. by 34%, P=0.03). This was accompanied by an attenuation of total Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) (P=0.01). The training resulted also in a decrease of basal serum soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (sVCAM-1) (P=0.001) and serum tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (P=0.03) levels. We have concluded that the improvement of health status of the Parkinson's disease patients after training could be related to the increase of serum BDNF level caused by the attenuated inflammation in those patients.