Skilled Motor Performance and Working Memory in Rowers: Body Patterns and Spatial Positions

1996 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 357-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael E. Woodin ◽  
Jane Heil

Previous studies using unfamiliar laboratory tasks (e.g. Smyth & Pendleton, 1990) have shown that working memory for movements to targets external to the body (positional movements) is dissociable from working memory for movements made to recreate specific configurations of body parts (patterned movements). In Experiment 1 this dissociation is replicated using tasks that were adapted for use in Experiment 2. In Experiment 2 the timing of experienced rowers’ performance of patterned and positional elements of the rowing stroke was selectively disrupted by concurrent performance of patterned and positional memory tasks, respectively. These results suggest that patterned and positional elements of well-practised everyday motor tasks, which involve a complex interaction of the two types of movement, are controlled separately and place dissociable demands on working memory.

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Seinfeld ◽  
Jörg Müller

AbstractIt has been shown that mere observation of body discontinuity leads to diminished body ownership. However, the impact of body discontinuity has mainly been investigated in conditions where participants observe a collocated static virtual body from a first-person perspective. This study explores the influence of body discountinuity on the sense of embodiment, when rich visuomotor correlations between a real and an artificial virtual body are established. In two experiments, we evaluated body ownership and motor performance, when participants interacted in virtual reality either using virtual hands connected or disconnected from a body. We found that even under the presence of congruent visuomotor feedback, mere observation of body discontinuity resulted in diminished embodiment. Contradictory evidence was found in relation to motor performance, where further research is needed to understand the role of visual body discontinuity in motor tasks. Preliminary findings on physiological reactions to a threat were also assessed, indicating that body visual discontinuity does not differently impact threat-related skin conductance responses. The present results are in accordance with past evidence showing that body discontinuity negatively impacts embodiment. However, further research is needed to understand the influence of visuomotor feedback and body morphological congruency on motor performance and threat-related physiological reactions.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Atari ◽  
Aida Mostafazadeh Davani ◽  
Morteza Dehghani

It has been proposed that somatosensory reaction to varied social circumstances results in feelings (i.e., conscious emotional experiences). Here, we present two preregistered studies in which we examined the topographical maps of somatosensory reactions associated with violations of different moral concerns. Specifically, participants in Study 1 (N = 596) were randomly assigned to respond to scenarios involving various moral violations and were asked to draw key aspects of their subjective somatosensory experience on two 48,954-pixel silhouettes. Our results show that body patterns corresponding to different moral violations are felt in different regions of the body depending on whether individuals are classified as liberals or conservatives. We also investigated how individual differences in moral concerns relate to body maps of moral violations. Finally, we used natural-language processing to predict activation in body parts on the basis of the semantic representation of textual stimuli. We replicated these findings in a nationally representative sample in Study 2 (N = 300). Overall, our findings shed light on the complex relationships between moral processes and somatosensory experiences.


Motricidade ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 11-19
Author(s):  
Amanda A. Machado ◽  
Ingrid S. Bezerra ◽  
Katia Regina Ponciano ◽  
Roberta L. Rica ◽  
Eliane F. Gama ◽  
...  

This current study aims to analyze the contribution of futsal practice in global praxis and body image in children in a specialized motor stage, evaluating the motor performance before and after an intervention in the following factors: hands and feet global praxis and body image. It was adopted the application method of 18 one-hour twice a week session, divided into three modules, I) displacement activities in different directions; II) coordination activities and reaction time and III) throwing and kicking activities. Twenty male participants, aged 8 to 12 years, with normal motor development were used. The survey was conducted at a private school. The results found were a significant improvement in the hits of the tennis balls with hands and make the number of hits in kicking the ball with his feet. Regarding the analysis of body image after the proposed intervention, the children has shown the body parts performance incorporated in drawings that were not previously present. It is concluded that there are positive contributions of the futsal practice in respect to the global praxis practice and body image in children in a specialized motor stage.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tilmann Glimm ◽  
Maria Kiskowski ◽  
Nickolas Moreno ◽  
Ylenia Chiari

AbstractAnimal color patterns are widely studied in ecology, evolution, and through mathematical modeling. Patterns may vary among distinct body parts such as the head, trunk or tail. As large amounts of photographic data is becoming more easily available, there is a growing need for general quantitative methods for capturing and analyzing the full complexity and details of pattern variation. Detailed information on variation in color pattern elements is necessary to understand how patterns are produced and established during development, and which evolutionary forces may constrain such a variation. Here, we develop an approach to capture and analyze variation in melanistic color pattern elements in leopard geckos. We use this data to study the variation among different body parts of leopard geckos and to draw inferences about their development. We compare patterns using 14 different indices such as the ratio of melanistic versus total area, the ellipticity of spots, and the size of spots and use these to define a composite distance between two patterns. Pattern presence/absence among the different body parts indicates a clear pathway of pattern establishment from the head to the back legs. Together with weak within-individual correlation between leg patterns and main body patterns, this suggests that pattern establishment in the head and tail may be independent from the rest of the body. We found that patterns vary greatest in size and density of the spots among body parts and individuals, but little in their average shapes. We also found a correlation between the melanistic patterns of the two front legs, as well as the two back legs, and also between the head, tail and trunk, especially for the density and size of the spots, but not their shape or inter-spot distance. Our data collection and analysis approach can be applied to other organisms to study variation in color patterns between body parts and to address questions on pattern formation and establishment in animals.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Atari ◽  
Aida Mostafazadeh Davani ◽  
Morteza Dehghani

It has been proposed that somatosensory reaction to varied social circumstances results in feelings (i.e., conscious emotional experiences). Here, we present two preregistered studies in which we examined the topographical maps of somatosensory reactions associated with violations of different moral concerns. Specifically, participants in Study 1 ( N = 596) were randomly assigned to respond to scenarios involving various moral violations and were asked to draw key aspects of their subjective somatosensory experience on two 48,954-pixel silhouettes. Our results show that body patterns corresponding to different moral violations are felt in different regions of the body depending on whether individuals are classified as liberals or conservatives. We also investigated how individual differences in moral concerns relate to body maps of moral violations. Finally, we used natural-language processing to predict activation in body parts on the basis of the semantic representation of textual stimuli. We replicated these findings in a nationally representative sample in Study 2 ( N = 300). Overall, our findings shed light on the complex relationships between moral processes and somatosensory experiences.


PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e11829
Author(s):  
Tilmann Glimm ◽  
Maria Kiskowski ◽  
Nickolas Moreno ◽  
Ylenia Chiari

Animal color patterns are widely studied in ecology, evolution, and through mathematical modeling. Patterns may vary among distinct body parts such as the head, trunk or tail. As large amounts of photographic data is becoming more easily available, there is a growing need for general quantitative methods for capturing and analyzing the full complexity and details of pattern variation. Detailed information on variation in color pattern elements is necessary to understand how patterns are produced and established during development, and which evolutionary forces may constrain such a variation. Here, we develop an approach to capture and analyze variation in melanistic color pattern elements in leopard geckos. We use this data to study the variation among different body parts of leopard geckos and to draw inferences about their development. We compare patterns using 14 different indices such as the ratio of melanistic versus total area, the ellipticity of spots, and the size of spots and use these to define a composite distance between two patterns. Pattern presence/absence among the different body parts indicates a clear pathway of pattern establishment from the head to the back legs. Together with weak within-individual correlation between leg patterns and main body patterns, this suggests that pattern establishment in the head and tail may be independent from the rest of the body. We found that patterns vary greatest in size and density of the spots among body parts and individuals, but little in their average shapes. We also found a correlation between the melanistic patterns of the two front legs, as well as the two back legs, and also between the head, tail and trunk, especially for the density and size of the spots, but not their shape or inter-spot distance. Our data collection and analysis approach can be applied to other organisms to study variation in color patterns between body parts and to address questions on pattern formation and establishment in animals.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  

Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer in which mostly damaged unpaired DNA starts mutating abnormally and staged an unprecedented proliferation of epithelial skin to form a malignant tumor. In epidemics of skin, pigment-forming melanocytes of basal cells start depleting and form uneven black or brown moles. Melanoma can further spread all over the body parts and could become hard to detect. In USA Melanoma kills an estimated 10,130 people annually. This challenge can be succumbed by using the certain anti-cancer drug. In this study design, cyclophosphamide were used as a model drug. But it has own limitation like mild to moderate use may cause severe cytopenia, hemorrhagic cystitis, neutropenia, alopecia and GI disturbance. This is a promising challenge, which is caused due to the increasing in plasma drug concentration above therapeutic level and due to no rate limiting steps involved in formulation design. In this study, we tried to modify drug release up to threefold and extended the release of drug by preparing and designing niosome based topical gel. In the presence of Dichloromethane, Span60 and cholesterol, the initial niosomes were prepared using vacuum evaporator. The optimum percentage drug entrapment efficacy, zeta potential, particle size was found to be 72.16%, 6.19mV, 1.67µm.Prepared niosomes were further characterized using TEM analyzer. The optimum batch of niosomes was selected and incorporated into topical gel preparation. Cold inversion method and Poloxamer -188 and HPMC as core polymers, were used to prepare cyclophosphamide niosome based topical gel. The formula was designed using Design expert 7.0.0 software and Box-Behnken Design model was selected. Almost all the evaluation parameters were studied and reported. The MTT shows good % cell growth inhibition by prepared niosome based gel against of A375 cell line. The drug release was extended up to 20th hours. Further as per ICH Q1A (R2), guideline 6 month stability studies were performed. The results were satisfactory and indicating a good formulation approach design was achieved for Melanoma treatment.


Somatechnics ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kalindi Vora

This paper provides an analysis of how cultural notions of the body and kinship conveyed through Western medical technologies and practices in Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) bring together India's colonial history and its economic development through outsourcing, globalisation and instrumentalised notions of the reproductive body in transnational commercial surrogacy. Essential to this industry is the concept of the disembodied uterus that has arisen in scientific and medical practice, which allows for the logic of the ‘gestational carrier’ as a functional role in ART practices, and therefore in transnational medical fertility travel to India. Highlighting the instrumentalisation of the uterus as an alienable component of a body and subject – and therefore of women's bodies in surrogacy – helps elucidate some of the material and political stakes that accompany the growth of the fertility travel industry in India, where histories of privilege and difference converge. I conclude that the metaphors we use to structure our understanding of bodies and body parts impact how we imagine appropriate roles for people and their bodies in ways that are still deeply entangled with imperial histories of science, and these histories shape the contemporary disparities found in access to medical and legal protections among participants in transnational surrogacy arrangements.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (17) ◽  
pp. 2-1-2-6
Author(s):  
Shih-Wei Sun ◽  
Ting-Chen Mou ◽  
Pao-Chi Chang

To improve the workout efficiency and to provide the body movement suggestions to users in a “smart gym” environment, we propose to use a depth camera for capturing a user’s body parts and mount multiple inertial sensors on the body parts of a user to generate deadlift behavior models generated by a recurrent neural network structure. The contribution of this paper is trifold: 1) The multimodal sensing signals obtained from multiple devices are fused for generating the deadlift behavior classifiers, 2) the recurrent neural network structure can analyze the information from the synchronized skeletal and inertial sensing data, and 3) a Vaplab dataset is generated for evaluating the deadlift behaviors recognizing capability in the proposed method.


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