2015 — 2018 |
Schaefer, Sydney Yoshie |
K01Activity Code Description: For support of a scientist, committed to research, in need of both advanced research training and additional experience. |
Generalization of Functional Task-Specific Motor Training in Older Adults
? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is an application for a Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01), submitted by Dr. Sydney Schaefer, Assistant Professor at Utah State University. The purpose of this K01 application is to strategically enhance the candidate's career in the areas of neuropsychology, disability, and geriatric physical rehabilitation through targeted coursework, clinical exposure, and career products. The candidate's supportive and successful institutional environment ensures that the formal career development plan will add to her existing expertise in human movement. Her long-term career goal is to become an independent, tenured scientist with an externally funded research program that will impact the field of physical rehabilitation for older adults. Currently more than 40% of ll physical rehabilitation cases are adults age 65 or older. A commonly used treatment is task-specific training, in which patients repetitively practice a functional motor skill that underlies meaningful activity of daily living. Current rehabilitative practice does not, however, provide older patients with enough time in therapy to address multiple skills; thus, older adults must be able to generalize the benefits of their rehabilitative treatment. The purpose of this four-year research plan is to test whether older adults can generalize learned information after task-specific training, and if generalization is influenced by cognitive status, as many older adults ar susceptible to cognitive decline. In this project, adults age 65 or older will train on one functioal motor task that simulates feeding, but will be tested on a different untrained functional motor task that simulates dressing. The central hypothesis is that the untrained task (simulated dressing) will become less difficult and less distractible after practicing the trained task (simulated feeding), but that these generalized benefits will be attenuated in adults with lower cognitive status. Results will be compared to control data from subjects with no motor training, and this hypothesis will be tested using cost-effective real-world tools. If the generalization of motor learning between functional motor tasks depends on cognitive status, then future research will identify which specific cognitive impairments best predict physical rehabilitative outcomes. Alternatively, if older adults can generalize motor learning between functional motor tasks regardless of cognitive status, then physically disabled adults with dementia may benefit equally from rehabilitation as adults without cognitive impairment. The candidate's additional training in cognitive assessment and disablement models will complement her research plan, preparing her for future R01 submissions that address physical rehabilitation in older adults and thereby maximize their quality of life.
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0.979 |
2019 |
Schaefer, Sydney Yoshie |
R03Activity Code Description: To provide research support specifically limited in time and amount for studies in categorical program areas. Small grants provide flexibility for initiating studies which are generally for preliminary short-term projects and are non-renewable. |
Using Standardized Visuospatial Tests to Predict Motor Training Responsiveness in Older Adults @ Arizona State University-Tempe Campus
ABSTRACT The broad objective of this project is to determine whether standardized cognitive tests could be used in motor rehabilitation to better identify patients at risk for not responding to therapy. Older patients typically show smaller gains in motor rehabilitation than do younger patients, which may be due to cognitive impairments that interfere with their ability to relearn motor skills in therapy. Cognitive impairments have been shown to affect responsiveness to other types of rehabilitation. We therefore propose the use of standardized visuospatial tests for predicting responsiveness to upper extremity task-specific training in normal aging and after stroke. This motor skill learning paradigm uses household objects and mimics functional task-specific training, a motor rehabilitative approach that has been cited as superior to standard care for improving upper extremity skill post-stroke. Based on our preliminary work, we expect that older adults with better visuospatial scores will retain more motor skill one month after completing three sessions of task-specific training, compared to those with poorer visuospatial scores. Findings from this study will yield readily-available tools to help clinicians identify patients in upper extremity motor rehabilitation who are at risk for minimal treatment responsiveness. Findings will also determine which visuospatial tests have the most predictive value and should therefore be prioritized in screening when time or resources are limited. Further, if patients with lower visuospatial scores are more likely to show little to no improvement after a given motor rehabilitation protocol, then improving their visuospatial scores through cognitive rehabilitation could be a feasible, non-invasive strategy to maximize older patients? motor rehabilitation responsiveness.
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0.957 |