Australian researchers have discovered an entirely new aspect of human muscle behaviour which has implications for treating stroke and multiple sclerosis. Professor Simon Gandevia, of Neuroscience Research Australia and the University of New South Wales, and colleagues, report their findings in the Journal of Physiology. Gandevia and team have discovered that when human muscles are
Researchers from School of Health and Sport Sciences, Chukyo University, Japan studied the viscoelasticity of gastrocnemius medialis muscle and tendon after stretching. The study was published in Scandinavian Journal of Medicine Science Sports. In 11 male participants, displacement of the myotendinous junction on the gastrocnemius medialis muscle was measured using ultrasonographic during the passive dorsiflexion
The study conducted by researchers from Neuromechanics Research Laboratory, at Auburn University, USA, investigated the influence of a standardized clinical neck/shoulder Therapeutic Massage intervention on physiological effect of massage. The physiological measures were: assessing α-motoneurone pool excitability, muscle activity; and the clinical measure of range of motion (ROM) compared to a light touch and control
It likely comes as no surprise that low back pain is the most common form of chronic pain among adults. Lesser known is the fact that those with chronic pain also experience cognitive impairments and reduced gray matter in parts of the brain associated with pain processing and the emotional components of pain, like depression
Pumping up is easier for people who have been buff before, and now scientists think they know why — muscles retain a memory of their former fitness even as they wither from lack of use. Traditionally, such “muscle memory” has been attributed to neural factors in the absence of any identified local memory mechanism in
Mice seem to enjoy massage, according to new research from the California Institute of Technology, where scientists picked out the neurons that fire when a mouse is stroked. There are hopes that identifying similar neurons in humans could help develop new pain or stress-relieving drugs. In a study published in Nature, researchers identified the nerves
While this is now well known in massage therapy, researchers from University of Milan, Italy, conducted a study aimed to assess the role of deep and superficial massage and passive stretching recovery on blood lactate concentration kinetics after a fatiguing exercise compared to active and passive recovery. Nine participants (age 23 ± 1 years; stature
Researchers from Ohio State University, Columbus, published a study that compared the effect of immediate versus delayed massage-like compressive loading on peak isometric torque recovery and inflammatory cell infiltration following an eccentric exercise. The experiment was performed on rabbits. Eighteen skeletally mature New Zealand White rabbits were instrumented with peroneal nerve cuffs for stimulation of
Skeletal muscle injuries are among the most common and frequently disabling injuries sustained by athletes. Repair of injured skeletal muscle is an area that continues to present a challenge for sports medicine clinicians and researchers due, in part, to complete muscle recovery being compromised by development of fibrosis leading to loss of function and susceptibility
Human beings are highly social creatures who often touch each other during social interactions. Although the physiologic effects of touch are not understood fully, it appears to sustain social bonds and to increase cooperative behaviors. Oxytocin is a hormone known to facilitate social bonding, and touch may affect oxytocin release. Previous studies seeking to relate
