Purpose] To evaluate the severity of symptoms before and after cervical myelopathy surgery using the Simple Test for Evaluating hand Function. Because a test ceiling effect was observed in patients with less severe forms of myelopathy, we investigated the correlation between and accuracy of several different tests in order to clarify the usefulness of the Purdue Pegboard Test for evaluation of one or both hands. [Participants and Methods] Thirty-four patients (6 females and 28 males; mean age, 64.5 years) were examined, and scores were determined for each of the following tests: Purdue Pegboard Test; Simple Test for Evaluating hand Function; Japanese Orthopedic Association assessment; and Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand assessment. Correlations between scores of different tests were then determined. The cut-off values used for the Purdue Pegboard Test and the Simple Test for Evaluating hand Function were determined using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve to assess the use of chopsticks.[Results] The Purdue Pegboard Test assembly task correlated moderately with the Japanese Orthopedic Association and Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand scores. In the receiver operating characteristic curve analyses, the Purdue Pegboard Test cut-off value was 11 and the Simple Test for Evaluating hand Function cut-off value was 90.[Conclusion] The Purdue Pegboard Test is useful for evaluating manual dexterity and coordination in both hands in patients with cervical myelopathy.

Although the neural bases of the brain associated with movement disorders in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) are becoming clearer, the information is not sufficient because of the lack of extensive brain function research. Therefore, it is controversial about effective intervention methods focusing on brain function. One of the rehabilitation techniques for movement disorders involves intervention using motor imagery (MI). MI is often used for movement disorders, but most studies involve adults and healthy children, and the MI method for children with DCD has not been studied in detail. Therefore, a review was conducted to clarify the neuroscientific basis of the methodology of intervention using MI for children with DCD. The neuroimaging review included 20 magnetic resonance imaging studies, and the neurorehabilitation review included four MI intervention studies. In addition to previously reported neural bases, our results indicate decreased activity of the bilateral thalamus, decreased connectivity of the sensory-motor cortex and the left posterior middle temporal gyrus, bilateral posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, cerebellum, and basal ganglia, loss of connectivity superiority in the abovementioned areas. Furthermore, reduction of gray matter volume in the right superior frontal gyrus and middle frontal gyrus, lower fractional anisotropy, and axial diffusivity in regions of white matter pathways were found in DCD. As a result of the review, children with DCD had less activation of the left brain, especially those with mirror neurons system (MNS) and sensory integration functions. On the contrary, the area important for the visual space processing of the right brain was activated. Regarding of characteristic of the MI methods was that children observed a video related to motor skills before the intervention. Also, they performed visual-motor tasks before MI training sessions. Adding action observation during MI activates the MNS, and performing visual-motor tasks activates the basal ganglia. These methods may improve the deactivated brain regions of children with DCD and may be useful as conditioning before starting training. Furthermore, we propose a process for sharing the contents of MI with the therapist in language and determining exercise strategies.

Objective: To investigate whether the changes in the corticospinal excitability contribute to the anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) in the lower limb muscles when performing the ballistic upper limb movement of the dart throwing.Methods: We examined the primary motor cortex (M1) excitability of the lower limb muscles [tibialis anterior (TA) and soleus (SOL) muscles] during the APA phase by using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in the healthy volunteers. The surface electromyography (EMG) of anterior deltoid, triceps brachii, biceps brachii, TA, and SOL muscles was recorded and the motor evoked potential (MEP) to TMS was recorded in the TA muscle along with the SOL muscle. TMS at the hotspot of the TA muscle was applied at the timings immediately prior to the TA onset. The kinematic parameters including the three-dimensional motion analysis and center of pressure (COP) during the dart throwing were also assessed.Results: The changes in COP and EMG of the TA muscle occurred preceding the dart throwing, which involved a slight elbow flexion followed by an extension. The correlation analysis revealed that the onset of the TA muscle was related to the COP change and the elbow joint flexion. The MEP amplitude in the TA muscle, but not that in the SOL muscle, significantly increased immediately prior to the EMG burst (100, 50, and 0 ms prior to the TA onset).Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that the corticospinal excitability of the TA muscle increases prior to the ballistic upper limb movement of the dart throwing, suggesting that the corticospinal pathway contributes to the APA in the lower limb in a muscle-specific manner.

Introduction: The effect of promoting a physical reaction by the described action is called the action-sentence compatibility effect (ACE). It has been verified that physical motion changes depending on the time phase and grammatical expression. However, it is unclear how adverbs and onomatopoeia change motion simulations and subsequent movements.Methods: The subjects were 35 healthy adults (11 females; mean age 21.3). We prepared 20 sentences each, expressing actions related to hands and feet. These were converted into 80 sentences (stimulus set A), with the words “Slow” or “Quick” added to the words related to the speed of movement, and 80 sentences (stimulus set B) with the words “Fast” and onomatopoeia “Satto” added. Additionally, 20 unnatural sentences were prepared for each stimulus set as pseudo sentences. Choice reaction time was adopted; subjects pressed the button with their right hand only when the presented text was correctly understood (Go no-go task). The reaction time (RTs) and the number of errors (NoE) were recorded and compared.Results: As a result of a two-way repeated ANOVA, an interaction effect (body parts × words) was observed in RTs and NoE in set A. “Hand and Fast” had significantly faster RTs than “Hand and Slow” and “Foot and Fast.” Furthermore, “Hand and Fast” had a significantly higher NoE than others. In set B, the main effects were observed in both RTs and NoE. “Hand” and “Satto” had significantly faster RTs than “Foot” and “Quick,” respectively. Additionally, an interaction effect was observed in NoE, wherein “Foot and Satto” was significantly higher than “Hand and Satto” and “Foot and Quick.”Conclusion: In this study, the word “Fast” promoted hand response, reaffirming ACE. The onomatopoeia “Satto” was a word that conveys the speed of movement, but it was suggested that the degree of understanding may be influenced by the body part and the attributes of the subject.

The modified STEF is a reliable measurement tool, with a moderate positive correlation with the PPT and a greater responsiveness than the STEF and PPT.