{"457161":{"#nid":"457161","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Opposites Don\u2019t Attract When Learning How to Use a Prosthesis","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENew research suggests that upper limb amputees, who typically struggle to learn how to use a new prosthesis, would be more successful if fellow amputees taught them. Most usually learn by watching a non-amputee demonstrate the device during physical therapy and rehabilitation sessions. A Georgia Institute of Technology study that measured arm movements and analyzed brain patterns found that people do better when they learn from someone who looks like them. \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/nnr.sagepub.com\/content\/early\/2015\/10\/01\/1545968315606992.abstract\u0022\u003EThe paper is published\u003C\/a\u003E in the journal Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe wanted to see if there was something we could improve in therapy that helps amputees \u2013 something to refresh the rehab,\u201d said Lewis Wheaton, an associate professor who led the study and directs Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ap.gatech.edu\/Wheaton\/CMCLab.php\u0022\u003ECognitive Motor Control Lab\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cIf people with a prosthesis can\u2019t figure it out in the first three days, they tend to give up.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/17979010\u0022\u003EPrior research\u003C\/a\u003E found that as many as 75 percent of amputees consider their prosthesis to be primarily aesthetic, and 33 percent reject the device because it\u2019s not practical. Poor training and a bad first experience are often listed as reasons they eventually quit wearing the device.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the study, participants wore an elbow-to-hand prosthesis (a split hook device) with movement sensors embedded onto the elbow. The device was designed to limit forearm and wrist movement. They also wore an EEG cap on their heads.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn the first day, participants tried various tasks (rotating a block, flipping a spatula, writing) with the device. For the next three days, they watched 30-second videos of someone demonstrating the same tasks. The person on video either wore the same device or didn\u2019t wear anything on their arm. On the fifth day, participants tried each task again.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThose who watched a matched-limb participant did significantly better after three days of training,\u201d said Wheaton, a faculty member in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ap.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Applied Physiology\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cTheir arm movements were more consistent and fluid when they repeated the task. Those who only watched someone without a prosthesis didn\u2019t improve at all.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJust as importantly, Wheaton noticed different brain patterns in the two groups. As people watched someone wearing a prosthesis, areas of the brain involved with motor planning were most active. For those watching an able-bodied person, the brain\u2019s visual areas were most dominant.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen amputees watch someone without a prosthesis, it seems that their brain is more concerned with what it\u2019s seeing, rather than concentrating on how to actually do the task,\u201d said Wheaton.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe current study only included non-amputees watching videos, although Wheaton is now repeating it with amputees in his Georgia Tech lab. Additional next steps will attempt to determine whether the same results are consistent with different types of prostheses for other parts of the body.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe study is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) 2009 Pre-Doctoral Prosthetics and Orthotics Research Fellowship Program and NIH National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research T32 Award (#5T32HD055180-03). Any conclusions expressed are those of the principal investigator and may not necessarily represent the official views of the funding organization. \u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Study examines differences of learning from matched and non-matched limb users"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENew research suggests that upper limb amputees, who typically struggle to learn how to use a new prosthesis, would be more successful if fellow amputees taught them. Most usually learn by watching a non-amputee demonstrate the device during physical therapy and rehabilitation sessions. A Georgia Institute of Technology study that measured arm movements and analyzed brain patterns found that people do better when they learn from someone who looks like them.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"People learn how to use a prosthesis more effectively when taught by someone else wearing a device."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2015-10-08 11:55:38","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:43","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-10-08T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-10-08T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"457371":{"id":"457371","type":"image","title":"Prosthesis and a Block","body":null,"created":"1449256347","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:27","changed":"1475895202","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:22","alt":"Prosthesis and a Block","file":{"fid":"203513","name":"prosthesis-block3000.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/prosthesis-block3000_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/prosthesis-block3000_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":994743,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/prosthesis-block3000_0.jpg?itok=2T_7EAGo"}},"457381":{"id":"457381","type":"image","title":"Lewis Wheaton","body":null,"created":"1449256347","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:27","changed":"1475895202","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:22","alt":"Lewis Wheaton","file":{"fid":"203514","name":"prosthesis-lewis-wheaton3000.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/prosthesis-lewis-wheaton3000_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/prosthesis-lewis-wheaton3000_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1397040,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/prosthesis-lewis-wheaton3000_0.jpg?itok=LYUJvfaA"}},"457321":{"id":"457321","type":"image","title":"Wheaton Lab Study Set-Up","body":null,"created":"1449256347","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:27","changed":"1475895202","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:22","alt":"Wheaton Lab Study Set-Up","file":{"fid":"203508","name":"lab-setup_3000.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lab-setup_3000_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lab-setup_3000_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":721721,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/lab-setup_3000_0.jpg?itok=O8SSNBUV"}}},"media_ids":["457371","457381","457321"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/nnr.sagepub.com\/content\/early\/2015\/10\/01\/1545968315606992.abstract","title":"Read the study"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ap.gatech.edu\/Wheaton\/CMCLab.php","title":"Cognitive Motor Control Lab"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ap.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Applied Physiology"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"144221","name":"Amputees"},{"id":"115461","name":"Applied Physiology"},{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"68441","name":"Lewis Wheaton"},{"id":"88421","name":"Prosthesis"},{"id":"2075","name":"prosthetics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003ENational Media Relations \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}