Work Type

Poster

Date

Fall 2018

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Karin Steere, DPT

Abstract

Objective

Obtain baseline accuracy measurements of right/left discrimination in actively performing dancers without performance-inhibiting injuries.

Purpose

Gather data that can be used in future studies to expand understanding of brain smudging in dancers.

Methods

This study is a prognostic cohort study. This study will involve participant use of a simple iPad application to do the left and right discrimination test that is suggested to give information on brain reorganization, or brain smudging

Research Problem

The specific physical, mental, and emotional demands of dancers’ careers put constant strain on their bodies to perform at the level required and can lead to injury or a higher risk for reinjury. 1,2,3,4Traditional interventions often do not address central consequences of injury on the body, such as motor cortex reorganization, or brain smudging. 5,6The degree of brain smudging that occurs in injured dancers is currently unknown. Ability to discriminate between right and left sides of the body has been proposed as a means of measuring this smudging.7,8,9,1

Results

Mean accuracies out of 100 were as follows: right hand was 62.73 (n=22, SD=23.53), left hand was 61.36 (n=22, SD=16.99), right foot was 94.09 (n=22,SD=11.41), and left foot was 91.82 (n=22, SD=14.02).

Conclusions

The heavier workload that is typically placed on the lower extremities relative to the upper extremities may explain some of the lower accuracy in the hands in this population. 1,2 Further research is needed to establish scores in those with current injuries and determine whether those scores are predictive of future injury.

Publisher

University of Puget Sound

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