• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.259-269
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• 2021

Objective: The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate age-related bimanual coordination functions in older adults. Method: Thirteen studies that compared bimanual coordination functions in older adults with those in healthy young adults qualified for this meta-analysis. We additionally categorized 21 total comparisons from the 13 qualified studies into two types of task-related moderator variables: (1) kinematic versus kinetic movements and (2) symmetry versus asymmetry movements. Results: Random effects model meta-analysis found that older adults revealed significant bimanual coordination impairments as compared with young adults (Hedges's g = -0.771; p < .0001; I² = 74.437%). We additionally confirmed specific bimanual coordination deficits using two moderator variables: 1) kinematic (Hedges's g = -0.884; p < .0001; I² = 0.000%) and kinetic (Hedges's g = -0.666; p = .023; I² = 86.170%). 2) symmetry (Hedges's g = -0.712; p = .001; I² = 74.291%) and asymmetry (Hedges's g = -0.817; p < .0001; I² = 76.322%). The moderator variable analysis indicated older adults indicated bimanual coordination deficits in the upper extremities than healthy young adults while performing kinematic bimanual coordination tasks and asymmetry coordination tasks. Conclusion: These findings suggest that developing motor rehabilitation programs based on asymmetric bimanual movement task for enhancing interlimb coordination functions of older adults may be crucial for increasing their independence in everyday activities. Given that elderly revealed the deficits in lower extremities coordination when older adults perform gait, posture, and balance, future studies should estimate lower limb coordination functions in elderly people.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.119-135
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• 2020

Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of bimanual intensive training on Upper Extremity Function and activities of daily living in stroke patients. Methods : The subjects were 18 patients who were diagnosed with hemiplegic stroke. They were randomly assigned to bimanual intensive training group (n=9) and unilateral intensive group (n=9). Bimanual training group performed bimanual task and unilateral training group performed one hand task for 1 hour per session, 5 times a week, for 4 weeks. Chi-square test, Wilcoxon signed rank test, and Mann-Whitney U test were used for analysis. Results : The results showed that, upper extremity motor function and bimanual coordination were significantly improved in patients in the bimanual training group (p<.05). Additionally, the ratio of affected hand use and amount of use/quality of movement in the hemiplegic upper extremity in activities of daily living for patients in the bimanual training group were significantly improved (p<.05). Although the unilateral group improved motor upper extremity function and activities of daily living in the upper extremity (p<.05), it was not significantly different from that in the bimanual training group. In between-group comparison, bimanual coordination and ratio of the affected hand use in a day were significantly different (p<.05). Conclusion : It is reasonable to conclude that bimanual intensive training therapy is an effective intervention method to improve upper extremity motor function, and activities of daily living in stroke patients.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.44-52
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of different objects and target location of dominant hand on the non-dominant hand movement kinematics in a bimanual reaching task. Fifteen right-handed volunteers were asked to reach from same starting point to the different target point of right and left hand with grasping the objects of different size. Independent variables were 1) three different object types (small mug cup, name pen, and PET bottle), and 2) three different target locations (shorter distance, same distance, and longer distance than the non-dominant hand) of the dominant hand. Dependent variables were movement time (MT), movement distance (MD), movement mean velocity ($MV_{mean}$), and movement peak velocity ($MV_{peak}$) of the non-dominant hand. Repeated measures two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test for differences in the non-dominant hand movement kinematics during bimanual reaching. The results of this study were as follows: 1) MT of the non-dominant hand was increased significantly when traveling with grasping the mug cup and reaching the far target location, and was decreased significantly when traveling with grasping the PET bottle and reaching the near target location of the dominant hand. 2) MD of the non-dominant hand was significantly increased during reaching the far target location, and significantly decreased during reaching the near target location with dominant hand. 3) $MV_{mean}$ of the non-dominant hand was increased significantly when traveling with grasping the PET bottle, and was decreased significantly when traveling with grasping the mug cup of the dominant hand. Therefore, it can be concluded that the changes of the ipsilateral hand movement have influence on coupling of the contralateral hand movement in bimanual reaching.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.7-17
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• 2015

Objective : To investigate the current researches which identify the improvement of bilateral coordination skill of children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy after bimanual intensive training. Methods : We systematically examined papers published in journals from 2004 to 2014, using RISS, Pubmed. Total 6 studies were included in the analyses. Result : All of the selected 6 studies were foreign papers, and the Pedro score was 5 or more. Among various interventions, modified CIMT designs were the most. The primary outcome measure tools are AHA and JTTHF for evaluating bilateral coordination and hand functions, and QUEST, ABILHAND-Kids, COPM, GAS, PEDI, 3-D movement kinematics were used for evaluating various aspects of effectiveness of interventions. Conclusion : Through this systematic review, it is identified that bilateral intensive training provides positive effects to not only hand functions but also bilateral coordination. Furthermore, it also provided supports to participate in ADL requiring bilateral coordination. These results will provides evidence concerning the effectiveness of BIT for children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.23-33
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• 2016

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between cognitive function and upper extremity function in the elderly. The articles were analyzed based on patient, intervention, comparison, and outcome using the P.I.C.O. principle. Methods: We systematically examined papers from January, 2000 to November, 2015 published papers through the foreign journals which were Medline & Pubmed for three months. mainly used key words were elderly, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Mild cognitive impairment, age-related, aging, cognitive, upper extremity function, hand function, hand-grip strength, grip force, complex motor function, bimanual, dexterity, UE performance, and coordination. Results: The number of discovered outcomes for association between cognitive function and upper extremity function in the elderly was 7; grip strength & sex are impact on manipulation object, 1. The results show that cognitive function is associated with upper extremity function in the elderly. Conclusion: This study is expected to help selecting intervention, assessment tools according to the individual's degree of cognitive level and upper extremity function. In future domestic research, variety assessment tools need to be used and more qualitative level experiment will be carried out.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.47-72
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• 2019

This study reviewed and analyzed English-written studies using a rhythmic tapping task for motor control of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Inclusion criteria for the participants were children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children. The keywords used for the outcome variables included rhythmic tapping, timed movement, and synchronization. Ten studies were included in the final analysis. The included studies were analyzed in terms of target variables, auditory stimuli, and measurements. A meta-analysis was also conducted to examine how children with ASD performed rhythmic tapping tasks compared to children with TD. In the identified studies, five variables were used: timed movement control, timing reproduction, bimanual coordination, synchronization, and interpersonal synchronization. It was found that rhythmic tapping performance was analyzed in terms of accuracy and precision of the movement and reported as significantly correlated to social skills measures. The meta-analysis results showed that there were no significant differences between the ASD and TD groups in continuing rhythmic movements when the presented auditory stimuli ended, whereas there were significant group differences in their ability to maintain their motor performance consistently and to synchronize with auditory cue or with others. These results support the rhythmic tapping task as an effective measure for not only motor control but also social skills development in children with ASD.