Felipe Balistieri Santinelli

Hasselt University · Department Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy

This study investigated changes in postural control complexity in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) before and after a fatigue protocol. Thirteen minimally affected PwMS (1.53 ± 1.03-Expanded Disability Status Scale) and 12 non-MS controls. Postural test included quiet stance on a force platform under two visual conditions (saccades and fixatio...

Background Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative and inflammatory disease that impacts both visual and postural control. It is currently unknown how the integration between visual and postural control is affected in people with MS (PwMS). It has been shown in healthy individuals that saccadic eye movements can decrease body sway as result...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of ankle and hip muscle fatigue on motor adjustments (experiment 1) and symmetry (experiment 2) of postural control during a quiet standing task. Twenty-three young adults performed a bipedal postural task on separate force platforms, before and after a bilateral ankle and hip muscle fatigue prot...

Background People with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS) present higher cortical activity during walking. However, the cortical activity during gait while avoiding an obstacle is still not clear. Objective To investigate cortical activity and gait spatial-temporal parameters in PwMS during two different gait tasks (i.e., unobstructed and obstacle avoidanc...

Background: It has been suggested that the protein Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) plays a neuroprotective role in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). Also, BDNF seems to play a role in cognition performance. In the same line, gait in pwMS requires a higher cognitive resource, mainly during complex walking. Thus, maybe BDNF could be rel...

The imbalance in the concentration of metallic nanoparticles has been demonstrated to play an important role in multiple sclerosis (MS), which may impact cognition. Biomarkers are needed to provide insights into the pathogenesis and diagnosis of MS. They can be used to gain a better understanding of cognitive decline in people with MS (pwMS). In th...

The effects of a cooling strategy following repeated high-intensity running (RHIR) on soccer kicking performance in a hot environment (>30ºC) were investigated in youth soccer players. Fifteen academy under-17 players participated. In Experiment 1, players completed an all-out RHIR protocol (10×30 m, with 30s intervals). In Experiment 2 (cross-over...

Background: Gait asymmetry and deficits in gait initiation (GI) are among the most disabling symptoms in people with Parkinson’s disease (PwPD). Understanding if PwPD with reduced asymmetry during GI have higher asymmetry in cortical activity may provide support for an adaptive mechanism to improve GI, particularly in the presence of an obstacle. O...

Background: Postural impairment is one of the most debilitating symptoms in people with Parkinson's disease (PD), which show faster and more variable oscillation during quiet stance than neurologically healthy individuals. Despite the center of pressure parameters can characterize PD’s body sway, they are limited to uncover underlying mechanisms of...

Abstract Aim: This review aimed to provide evidence and highlight the importance of including physical activity (PA) and/or exercise training (ET) as part of the comprehensive multiple sclerosis (MS) care. Methods: Using the current literature on the subject, we provide a brief overview of MS incorporating its definition, common symptoms, prevalenc...

A escrita deste livro é mais um exemplo do brilhante trabalho em equipe do Grupo de Estudo e Pesquisa em Antropometria, Treinamento e Esporte da Escola de Educação Física e Esporte de Ribeirão Preto da Universidade de São Paulo (GEPEATE/EEFERP-USP). O comprometimento, dedicação e seriedade dos integrantes do grupo refletem-se na qualidade dos cinco...

COVID-19 in Brazil is threatening, and it has forced the government to adopt partial lockdown as a strategy to stop the spread of the virus at the beginning of the pandemic (March 2020). These preventive measures during the COVID-19 pandemic may affect the motor and non-motor symptoms in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Multiple sclerosis (...

Repeated high-intensity running (RHIR) exercise is known to affect central and peripheral functioning. Declines in RHIR performance are exacerbated by environmental heat stress. Accordingly, the use of post-exercise cooling strategies (COOL) is recommended as it may assist recovery. The present study aimed to investigate, in a hot environment (> 30...

The contribution of cortical activity (e.g. EEG recordings) in various brain regions to motor control during goal-directed manipulative tasks using lower limbs remains unexplored. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to determine the magnitude of associations between EEG-derived brain activity and soccer kicking parameters. Twenty-four under...

The current study examined the possible relationships between one-off single night sleep metrics and subsequent kicking performance in a youth soccer context. Twenty-eight under-17 academy players (15.9±0.8 years-old) completed a kick testing protocol consisting in 20 attempts, 18 m from the goal and against a goalkeeper. Four digital video cameras...

Background Our understanding of how balance control responds to levodopa over the course of a single day in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) is limited with the majority of studies focused on isolated comparisons of ON vs. OFF levodopa medication. Objective To evaluate the temporal dynamics of postural control following the first levodopa dose...

This study aimed to investigate if the impairing in postural control, induced by ankle fatiguing exercise, remains after 24/48 hours in young adults. Center of Pressure (CoP) was assessed in 16 participants (23±3 years old) before, immediately after an ankle fatigability induction protocol (FI) and after 24 or 48 h of recovery using two 60-s trials...

This study had a purpose of analyzing dominant and non-dominant limb performances (frequency of use and accuracy) during match-play technical actions with ball possession (receiving, passing and shooting a ball) in professional futsal and also check for the possible influence of playing position and opponent’s quality. We analyzed data pertaining t...

BACKGROUND: Stay active is a good strategy to mitigate the negative effects of confinement in people with Parkinson’s Disease (PD). Synchronous (full-time class interaction) and asynchronous (without the live presence of the healthcare professional) exercises are two strategies to avoid the worsening of PD. AIM: To investigate the effect of the syn...

Background A number of reviews have collated information on the impact of warming-up, physical exertion and recovery strategies on physical, subjective and physiological markers in soccer players yet none have solely analyzed their potential effects on components of kicking performance. Objective To systematically analyse the influence of warm-up,...

Background Impaired movement stability is a common symptom of Parkinson’s disease (PD) that leads to falls and mishandled objects. Decline in synergistic stabilization of movement in PD patients has been observed in manual and postural tasks. However, locomotor synergies have not been quantified in PD patients. Research question The purpose of thi...

Background Studies on short-term upright quiet standing tasks have presented contradictory findings about postural control in people with Parkinson’s disease (pwPD). Prolonged trial durations might better depict body sway and discriminate pwPD and controls. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate postural control in pwPD during a prolon...

Atletas e treinadores reconhecem que dormir é um componente crítico para a recuperação do desempenho esportivo. Má qualidade sono parece afetar o desempenho físico durante a prática do futebol, mas devido ao aspecto de precisão requerido nas tarefas técnicas que envolvem diretamente os componentes cognitivos, é esperado que reduzida qualidade do so...

This letter to the editor has the objective of providing a perspective of the impact of multiple sclerosis (MS) on postural control and gait, the current studies, and suggestions for future studies. Although studies on MS with postural control and gait have been carried out for some time, in Brazil and in the World, there is still insufficient info...

Kicking is one of the most important soccer skills. Given the requirements of power on this task, warm-up previously seems reasonable to enhance kicking performance. On the other hand, prolonged exercise could decrease shooting efficiency. To date, little is known about appropriate recovery tools to maintain/reestablish kicking performance. Also, n...

The color of an obstacle may enable a more detailed view of the environment to facilitate obstacle avoidance. However, people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) present visual contrast and color detection dysfunction, which could affect obstacle avoidance according to obstacle color. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of obstac...