Continuous Repetition Motor Imagery Training and Physical Practice Training Exert the Growth of Fatigue and Its Effect on Performance.

Continuous repetition of motor imagery leads to mental fatigue. This study aimed to examine whether fatigue caused by motor imagery training affects improvement in performance and the change in corticospinal excitability. The participants were divided into "physical practice training" and "motor imagery training" groups, and a visuomotor task (set at 50% of maximal voluntary contraction in participants) was performed to assess the training effect on fatigue. The measurements were recorded before and after training. Corticospinal excitability at rest was measured by transcranial magnetic stimulation according to the Neurophysiological Index. Subjective mental fatigue and muscle fatigue were assessed by using the visual analog scale and by measuring the pinch force, respectively. Additionally, the error area was evaluated and calculated at pre-, mid-, and post-terms after training, using a visuomotor task. After training, muscle fatigue, subjective mental fatigue, and decreased corticospinal excitability were noted in both of the groups. Moreover, the visuomotor task decreased the error area by training; however, there was no difference in the error area between the mid- and post-terms. In conclusion, motor imagery training resulted in central fatigue by continuous repetition, which influenced the improvement in performance in the same manner as physical practice training.

Efficacy of combined hand exercise intervention in patients with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE: Previous evidence regarding the impact of exercise interventions on chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy often focuses on lower-extremity functions, such as muscle strength and balance ability, while their effects on upper extremities remain unknown. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of combined hand exercise intervention on upper-extremity function, symptoms, and quality-of-life in patients with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). METHODS: After screening 341 patients, 42 were randomly assigned to either the intervention (n = 21) or control (n = 21) group. Participants were evaluated at baseline (T0) and after one (T1) and two (T2) chemotherapy cycles. The primary outcome was upper-extremity function measured using the Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire (MHQ) at T2. The intention-to-treat and as-treated populations were compared using a mixed-effect model. RESULTS: In the intention-to-treat analysis, the decline in activities of daily living of MHQ was significantly suppressed in the intervention group compared with that in the control group at T2 (difference: 7.23; 95% confidence interval: 0.35-14.10). Similarly, in the as-treated analysis, the decline in activities of daily living of MHQ was significantly suppressed in the intervention group compared with that in the control group at T2 (difference: 13.09; 95% confidence interval: 5.68-20.49). Pain also significantly improved in the intervention group compared with that in the control group at T2 (difference: 13.21; 95% confidence interval: - 22.91 to - 3.51). CONCLUSION: The combined hand exercise intervention may improve upper-extremity function, such as by suppressing decline in ADL, and reduce pain in patients with CIPN.

A Study on the Effect of Mental Practice Using Motor Evoked Potential-Based Neurofeedback.

This study aimed to investigate whether the effect of mental practice (motor imagery training) can be enhanced by providing neurofeedback based on transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)-induced motor evoked potentials (MEP). Twenty-four healthy, right-handed subjects were enrolled in this study. The subjects were randomly allocated into two groups: a group that was given correct TMS feedback (Real-FB group) and a group that was given randomized false TMS feedback (Sham-FB group). The subjects imagined pushing the switch with just timing, when the target circle overlapped a cross at the center of the computer monitor. In the Real-FB group, feedback was provided to the subjects based on the MEP amplitude measured in the trial immediately preceding motor imagery. In contrast, the subjects of the Sham-FB group were provided with a feedback value that was independent of the MEP amplitude. TMS was applied when the target, moving from right to left, overlapped the cross at the center of the screen, and the MEP amplitude was measured. The MEP was recorded in the right first dorsal interosseous muscle. We evaluated the pre-mental practice and post-mental practice motor performance in both groups. As a result, a significant difference was observed in the percentage change of error values between the Real-FB group and the Sham-FB group. Furthermore, the MEP was significantly different between the groups in the 4th and 5th sets. Therefore, it was suggested that TMS-induced MEP-based neurofeedback might enhance the effect of mental practice.

Effects of aerobic, resistance, and mixed exercises on quality of life in patients with cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Quality of life has multiple aspects, but little is known about the effects of exercise on each domain of it. This systematic review aimed to determine the effects of aerobic, resistance, and mixed exercise on multiple aspects of quality of life in patients with cancer through a meta-analysis. METHODS: Randomized controlled trials with quality of life were collected, and 20 studies were analyzed. Subgroup analyses were performed according to exercise types. RESULTS: Exercise improved global, physical, role, and emotional quality of life, but not cognitive and social quality of life. Aerobic, resistance, and mixed exercises improved global, physical, role, emotional, and social quality of life; global, physical and role quality of life; and only physical quality of life, respectively. CONCLUSION: According to exercise type, aerobic and resistance exercises improved global, physical, and role quality of life, whereas aerobic exercise only improved emotional quality of life.

Effects of Aerobic and Resistance Exercises on Physical Symptoms in Cancer Patients: A Meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to conduct a meta-analysis to establish the effect of exercise interventions on physical symptoms, including fatigue, nausea/vomiting, pain, dyspnea, insomnia, loss of appetite, constipation, and diarrhea in cancer patients and survivors. METHODS: We searched articles published before April 2017 using the following databases: Cochrane Library, PubMed/MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, PEDro, Health & Medical Collection, and Psychology Database. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of exercise intervention in cancer patients, which evaluated cancer-related physical symptoms using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30, were included. Symptom scale data were extracted for meta-analysis. Subgroup analyses were performed for exercise types (aerobic, resistance, and mixed exercise programs). RESULTS: Of the 659 articles, 10 RCTs were included in the meta-analysis, of which the mean PEDro score was 5.43 (SD = 1.28). Fatigue, pain, dyspnea, and insomnia were significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group at postintervention in cancer patients. However, exercise intervention did not promote or suppress nausea/vomiting, loss of appetite, constipation, and diarrhea in cancer patients. The effect of exercise type on each symptom was not different. CONCLUSION: Exercise intervention was confirmed to improve fatigue, pain, and insomnia and might have reduced dyspnea in cancer patients. However, the benefits of exercise on nausea/vomiting, loss of appetite, constipation, and diarrhea were not shown in any exercise type. Further research is warranted to examine the effects of exercise interventions on physical symptoms in cancer patients.

Effect of occupation-based interventions in patients with haematopoietic malignancies undergoing chemotherapy: A pilot randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Chemotherapy for cancer negatively affects activities of daily living and quality of life. This study aimed to validate and compare the efficacy of two different interventions in patients with haematopoietic malignancies undergoing chemotherapy: (1) occupation-based interventions, designed using the Aid for Decision-making in Occupation Choice (ADOC) (an iPAD application) and (2) impairment-based interventions. ADOC helps promote decision-making during activities and participation in occupation-based goal setting. The impairment-based intervention group served as the comparison group and underwent impairment-based interventions focusing on dysfunction. METHODS: In this single-blinded pilot randomised controlled trial, 19 participants received an occupation-based intervention (n = 9) or an impairment-based intervention (n = 10). The treatment period comprised two sessions. Recruitment, compliance and outcome completion rates were calculated for the study. Effect sizes were examined for outcomes regarding physical performance, instrumental activities of daily living and quality of life as evaluated by a blinded assessor. RESULTS: In this study, 24.8% (28/113) of the eligible patients with haematopoietic malignancies were enrolled, and 67.9% (19/28) of these were retained up to the post-assessment stage. Recruitment (25%) and compliance (68%) rates were satisfactory. The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General emotional well-being and total scores were significantly higher for the occupation-based intervention group than for the impairment-based intervention group (both p < 0.05; d = 0.54, d = 0.51, respectively). Other outcomes showed no significant differences. CONCLUSION: Occupation-based interventions designed using the ADOC application were useful for patients with haematopoietic malignancies.

Changing Artificial Playback Speed and Real Movement Velocity Do Not Differentially Influence the Excitability of Primary Motor Cortex during Observation of a Repetitive Finger Movement.

Action observation studies have investigated whether changing the speed of the observed movement affects the action observation network. There are two types of speed-changing conditions; one involves "changes in actual movement velocity," and the other is "manipulation of video speed." Previous studies have investigated the effects of these conditions separately, but to date, no study has directly investigated the differences between the effects of these conditions. In the "movement velocity condition," increased velocity is associated with increased muscle activity; however, this change of muscle activities is not shown in the "video speed condition." Therefore, a difference in the results obtained under these conditions could be considered to reflect a difference in muscle activity of actor in the video. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of different speed-changing conditions and spontaneous movement tempo (SMT) on the excitability of primary motor cortex (M1) during action observation, as assessed by motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) amplitudes induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). A total of 29 healthy subjects observed a video clip of a repetitive index or little finger abduction movement under seven different speed conditions. The video clip in the movement velocity condition showed repetitive finger abduction movements made in time with an auditory metronome, at frequencies of 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 Hz. In the video speed condition, playback of the 1-Hz movement velocity condition video clip was modified to show movement frequencies of 0.5, 2, or 3 Hz (Hz-Fake). TMS was applied at the time of maximal abduction and MEPs were recorded from two right-hand muscles. There were no differences in M1 excitability between the movement velocity and video speed conditions. Moreover, M1 excitability did not vary across the speed conditions for either presentation condition. Our findings suggest that changing playback speed and actual differences in movement velocity do not differentially influence M1 excitability during observation of a simple action task, such as repetitive finger movement, and that it is not affected by SMT. In simple and meaningless observational task, people might not be able to recognize the difference in muscle activity of actor in the video.