The relationship of temporal gait asymmetry and rhythm perception and production

每年有5万加拿大人中风。大多数人即使在中风康复后也难以行走。一个主要 问题是改变了正常的行走模式。正常健康的步行是 对称，这意味着每条腿接触地面的时间相等。中风后，一个人走路时 强壮的那条腿比虚弱的那条腿花的时间多。这可能会导致长期的 问题，如平衡差，疼痛，在较强的腿和骨质流失，在较弱的腿。治疗师花了很多时间 治疗不对称性，但改善不多。因此，我们需要新的康复计划， 解决不对称行走。但要做到这一点，首先需要确定不对称的原因。等因素 肌肉无力已经被确定，但不能完全解释为什么每个中风患者走路不对称。 一些研究表明，大脑中一种特殊的结构，称为基底神经节，可能与运动和我们的能力有关。 来识别并产生节奏。我们认为一些中风患者可能失去了识别能力 有规律的节拍，这就阻止了他们以有规律、有节奏的方式行走。拟议的研究将审查 之间的关系的能力，以识别一个有规律的节拍和能力，走对称和自我评价的 中风患者行走的对称性。首先，我们将比较识别节拍和自我评估步行的能力 对称和不对称行走的中风患者之间的差异。第二，我们将使用脑成像来研究大脑 在测试中风患者识别规则节拍的能力期间，他们的活动。最后，我们将分享这些信息 与与中风患者一起工作的物理治疗师讨论新的步行治疗不对称的想法， 研究了

Each year 50 000 Canadians have a stroke. The majority have difficulty walking even after stroke rehabilitation. One major problem is changes to the regular walking pattern. Normal, healthy walking is symmetrical which means that each leg contacts the ground for equal amounts of time. After a stroke, a person walks with more time on the stronger leg than the weaker leg. This can cause long-term problems such as poor balance, pain in the stronger leg and bone loss in the weaker leg. Therapists spend a lot of time treating asymmetry however it does not improve very much. Therefore we need new rehabilitation programs that better address asymmetrical walking. But to do this, the causes of the asymmetry need to be identified first. Some factors such as muscle weakness have already been identified, but do not fully explain why everyone with a stroke walks asymmetrically. Some research suggests that a specific brain structure called the basal ganglia may related to both movement and our ability to recognize and produce a rhythm. We think some people who have suffered a stroke may have lost the ability to recognize a regular beat and this prevents them from walking in a regular, rhythmical way. The proposed study will examine the relationship between the ability to recognize a regular beat and the ability to walk symmetrically and self-evaluate the symmetry of walking in people with stroke. First, we will compare the ability to recognize a beat and self-evaluate walking between people with stroke who walk symmetrically and asymmetrically. Second, we will use brain imaging to study brain activity in people with stroke during a test of their ability to recognize a regular beat. Finally, we will share this information with physiotherapists who work with stroke patients to discuss ideas for new walking treatments for asymmetry that could be investigated.