Neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity refers to the changes that occur in the organization of the brain as a result of experience and activity. Researchers have found that neuroplasticity can be facilitated through various techniques.
Core Belief: It has been found that skilled or problem-solving activities, like those involved in the Core:Tx therapy system, are more effective that simply performing exercises.
Supporting Research: “These results indicate that representational map plasticity is driven by skill acquisition, learning, or practice of a newly acquired action, but not by simple repetitive motor activity” (Butler and Wolf, 200714; Plautz, et al, 20006; Classen, et al, 19987)
Core Belief: The Core:Tx uses visual information to provide the patient with information about his or her performance. The use of visual feedback for skill acquisition in stroke patients has also been shown to be effective.
Supporting Research: “These findings indicate that the visual feedback approach alone can effect improvement but visual feedback together with mental practice produces further positive effect on improving and maintaining a symmetrical stance posture in people with hemiparetic stroke” (Yoo and Chung; 20068)
Core Belief: The Core:Tx allows the patient to perform simple functional or synergic motor patterns, either by selecting the appropriate joint and movement or combination of movements that allow the patient to get performance based feedback throughout a synergic pattern or component of a functional task.
Supporting Research: “The idea is to simplify control by combining a small number of primitives, for example, patterns of muscle activations (synergies), in certain pre-specified proportions rather than individually controlling each muscle” (Wolpert D, Ghahramani Z and Flanagan J9).
Core Belief: The Core:Tx ® uses visual and auditory input to facilitate proprioceptive learning - a clear challenge for stroke patients.
Supporting Research: “Results indicate that the deficits that individuals with stroke experience when adapting their movements to changed load conditions may be due to difficulty in rapidly integrating visual and proprioceptive information.” (Dancause N, Ptito A, Levin MF, 200210)
