Development of assessment for the complexity on muscle activity in children with cerebral palsy.

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K14070
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 09060:Special needs education-related
• Research Institution: Gunma Paz University
• Principal Investigator: Hashiguchi Yu 群馬パース大学, リハビリテーション学部, 講師 (60779908)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 筋シナジー / 筋活動 / 装具 / 反復練習

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Muscle synergy is a theory that represents the coordination among muscle activities necessary for people to perform movements. In this study, we examined changes in the complexity of muscle activity using an index related to muscle synergy referred to as Dynamic Motor Control index (DMC). First, we investigated the effects of orthosis on the indices in healthy subjects, and found that the indices related to muscle synergy, including DMC, showed no significant changes, indicating the robustness of these indices. Second, we investigated changes before and after repetitive practice in hemiplegic patients after stroke, and found that DMC showed significant changes with improvement in task performance and movement smoothness. The results suggest that changes in the complexity of muscle activities underlie the improvement in movement after practice and can be quantitatively assessed by DMC.

Free Research Field

リハビリテーション科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

中枢神経障害を有する患者において、動作の円滑性の向上は重要な課題である。その背景にある筋活動の複雑性を定量的に示すDMCは、新たな側面からの病態理解を可能とする点において有用である。本研究の結果からDMCを含む筋シナジーに関連する指標の頑強性と妥当性が示されたことは、臨床場面において定量化が困難であった運動の複雑性や習熟度に関連する、神経学的評価の開発につながる点において、学術的かつ社会的意義が高いと考える。