Human movement science
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Human movement science · Apr 2016
Randomized Controlled TrialThe acquisition of socio-motor improvisation in the mirror game.
Socio-motor improvisation is defined as the creative action of two or more people without a script or anticipated preparation. It is evaluated through two main parameters: movement synchronization and movement richness. Experts in art (e.g., dance, theater or music) are known to exhibit higher synchronization and to perform richer movements during interpersonal improvisation, but how these competences evolve over time is largely unknown. ⋯ Between sessions, they performed an unintended interpersonal coordination task in which synchronization and richness were manipulated, resulting in four different groups of dyads. Our results demonstrate that synchronization during improvisation improved for all groups whereas movement richness only enhanced for dyads that performed synchronized movements during unintended coordination tasks. Our findings suggest that movement synchrony contributes more than movement richness to the acquisition of socio-motor improvisation in the mirror game.
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Human movement science · Jun 2015
Randomized Controlled TrialReorganised motor control strategies of trunk muscles due to acute low back pain.
This study assessed how the low back motor control strategies were affected by experimental pain. In twelve volunteers the right m. longissimus was injected by hypertonic and isotonic (control) saline. The pain intensity was assessed on a visual analog scale (VAS). ⋯ Experimental low back pain reduced the EMG activity bilaterally of the rectus abdominis muscles during contractions at 10% and 20% MVC (P<.01) although force accuracy and tangential force variability was not affected. Increased variability in the tangential force composition was found during pain compared with the non-painful condition (P<.05). The immediate adaptation to pain was sufficient to maintain the quality of the task performance; however the long-term consequence of such adaptation is unknown and may overload other structures.