Interesting... So, we must focus on the floor not moving...;-)

Nic 57/15


On Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 6:19 AM, rayilynlee <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> External focus improves postural stability in patients with Parkinson's
> disease
> March 26th, 2009
>
> ALEXANDRIA, VA - Patients with Parkinson disease may be able to improve
> their postural stability by directing their attention to the external
> effects of their movements rather than to the movements of their own body,
> according to a study published in the February 2009 issue of Physical
> Therapy, the scientific journal of the American Physical Therapy Association
> (APTA).
>
> Adults with Parkinson disease are at greater risk for posture and balance
> impairments. These conditions may lead to falls, resulting in head injuries
> and fractures, which can end with hospitalization and further mobility
> limitations. Approximately 90 percent of people with Parkinson disease will
> fall at some point during their lives.1 In the past 12 months, two-thirds of
> patients with Parkinson disease reported a fall.2
>
> According to physical therapist researcher and APTA spokesperson Merrill
> Landers, PT, DPT, OCS, "of the major motor signs of Parkinson disease,
> postural instability is the least responsive to medication. It is crucial
> that physical therapists continue to develop effective rehabilitation
> strategies to address this issue."
>
> Lead researcher Gabriele Wulf, PhD, and her team observed 14 adults with
> idiopathic Parkinson disease as they balanced on an unstable surface (an
> inflated rubber disk) under three attentional focus conditions -- external
> focus, internal focus, and a control condition.
>
> Patients were instructed to either focus on reducing movements of the
> rubber disk (external focus) or movements of their feet (internal focus), or
> they were not given attentional focus instructions (control condition). The
> results were consistent with previous findings on attentional focus, which
> showed that directing attention to the effects of an individual's movement
> on the environment (external focus) improved postural stability, compared
> with internal focus and control conditions, during standing for individuals
> with Parkinson disease.
>
> "In the past 12 years or so, numerous studies have been done - many of them
> involving healthy adults learning sport skills - and it has consistently
> been found that individuals perform and learn motor skills more effectively
> when they are instructed to adopt an external focus. Other studies have
> shown that those advantages generalize to people after stroke as well as to
> the rehabilitation of ankle sprains, for example. This is a very reliable
> effect, and the current study demonstrates that persons with Parkinson
> disease benefit from an external attentional focus as well," Wulf explained.
>
> "Findings from this study not only have the potential to enhance the
> rehabilitation strategies of physical therapists working with patients with
> Parkinson disease, but may ultimately give patients with postural
> instability more control over their lives through the use of strategies that
> help them manage their own balance safely and effectively," said Rebecca
> Lewthwaite, PhD, of Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, a
> co-author on the study.
>
> Rayilyn Brown
> Director AZNPF
> Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation
> [log in to unmask]
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