Niamh C Kennedy

University of Ulster · School of Psychology

Paired Associative Stimulation (PAS) has come to prominence as a potential therapeutic intervention for the treatment of brain injury/disease, and as an experimental method with which to investigate Hebbian principles of neural plasticity in humans. Prototypically, a single electrical stimulus is directed to a peripheral nerve in advance of transcr...

Functional strength training in addition to conventional physical therapy could enhance upper limb recovery early after stroke more than movement performance therapy plus conventional physical therapy. To determine (a) the relative clinical efficacy of conventional physical therapy combined with functional strength training and conventional physica...

Consideration was given to means of increasing the reliability and muscle specificity of paired associative stimulation (PAS) by utilising the phenomenon of crossed-facilitation. Eight participants completed three separate sessions: isometric flexor contractions of the left wrist at 20% of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) simultaneously with PAS...

Purpose of Review To determine and examine the evidence of GRASP in an upper limb rehabilitation setting for survivors of stroke. Summary Five databases were searched: CINAHL Complete, Medline (OVID), Embase, Cochrane Methodological Register, and Open Grey resulting in 8 studies for this review. Studies that included survivors of stroke using GRAS...

Introduction Poor recovery of the upper limb following a stroke has been recognised as a significant problem in the UK. Although there is good evidence that early, intense rehabilitation can lead to upper limb recovery, often this is not maintained, with less than 50% of people regaining the ability to use their upper limb for independent function...

Fatigue is one of the most debilitating symptoms for people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). By consolidating a diverse and conflicting evidence-base, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to gain new insights into the neurobiology of MS fatigue. MEDLINE, ProQuest, CINAHL, Web of Science databases and grey literature were searched using Med...

Background There are challenges implementing physical activity interventions for people across the stroke pathway of care. There is a need to understand the intervention content in addition to the effects. Objective This scoping review maps out the existing systematic review evidence in relation to five objectives. Design Intervention data were e...

Objective EvolvRehab-Body is a non-immersive virtual rehabilitation system that could provide high-dose, exercise-based upper limb therapy after stroke. This consideration-of-concept study investigated: adherence rate to prescribed repetitions; viability of repeated measures in preparation for a dose-articulation study; and preliminary signal of po...

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) provide a unique technological solution to circumvent the damaged motor system. For neurorehabilitation, the BCI can be used to translate neural signals associated with movement intentions into tangible feedback for the patient, when they are unable to generate functional movement themselves. Clinical interest in BC...

Background Virtual reality-augmented therapist-delivered exercise-based training has promise for enhancing upper limb motor recovery after stroke. However, the neurophysiological mechanisms are unclear. Objective To find if neurophysiological changes are correlated with or accompany a reduction in motor impairment in response to virtual reality-ai...

Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) provide a unique technological solution to circumvent the damaged motor system. For neurorehabilitation, the BCI can be used to translate neural signals associated with movement intentions into tangible feedback for the patient, when they are unable to generate functional movement themselves. Clinical interest in BCI...

Background Neuroplasticity refers to the brain's ability to reorganise and change in response to experience or after brain damage. Neuroplasticity is an imperative component of recovery from stroke, and rehabilitation aims to capitalise on this during a patient's recovery. Aims To highlight the role of neuroplasticity in stroke recovery and to exp...

Background The cause of low levels of physical activity (PA) in the post stroke population is complex and multifactorial. The volume of research in the area of physical activity and stroke is vast, coupled with complexities with respect to definitions of physical activity. The current UK clinical guidelines (National Institute of Care and Excellenc...

CITATIONS 0 READS 15 6 authors, including: Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Objective: To determine the predictive markers for the occurrence of upper limb spasticity in the first 12 months after stroke. Data sources: A systematic review was undertaken of the databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and PEDRO to 31st December 2017. Study selection: Non-experimental or experimental studies that included a control group with s...

Background Not all stroke survivors respond to the same form of physical therapy in the same way early after stroke. The response is variable and a detailed understanding of the interaction between specific physical therapies and neural structure and function is needed. Objectives To determine if upper limb recovery is enhanced more by functional...

Background: Better upper limb recovery after stroke could be achieved through tailoring rehabilitation interventions directly at movement deficits. Aim: To identify potential; targets for therapy by synthesizing findings of differences in kinematics and muscle activity between stroke survivors and healthy adults performing reach-to-target tasks. Me...

Background Variation in physiological deficits underlying upper limb paresis after stroke could influence how people recover and to which physical therapy they best respond. Objectives To determine whether functional strength training (FST) improves upper limb recovery more than movement performance therapy (MPT). To identify: (a) neural correlate...

Background and Objectives Reach-to-grasp is an essential everyday activity that is often impaired after stroke. The objectives of this review are: 1) identify differences in the kinematic characteristics of reach-to-grasp between individuals with and without stroke, and 2) determine the influence of object location on kinematics. Data sources MEDL...

Background Upright pedalling (UP) has similarities to walking in terms of both muscle activation and biomechanical activity. Therefore, UP is a potential rehabilitation therapy for enhancing walking recovery. The development of UP as a rehabilitation intervention requires understanding of muscle activity patterns elicited during pedalling in a rang...

Background The UK FAST (face, arm, speech, time) campaign aimed to increase awareness of stroke early warning signs (EWS) and the need to call 999. Research is needed to investigate the impact of this campaign among UK allied health professional (AHP) students and university students in general. Methods Ethical approval was obtained from the unive...

Background: There has been an explosion of interest in methods of exogenous brain stimulation that induce changes in the excitability of human cerebral cortex. The expectation is that these methods may promote recovery of function following brain injury. To assess their effects on motor output, it is typical to assess the state of corticospinal pro...

The tendency for contractions of muscles in the upper limb to give rise to increases in the excitability of corticospinal projections to the homologous muscles of the opposite limb is well known. Although the suppression of this tendency is integral to tasks of daily living, its exploitation may prove to be critical in the rehabilitation of acquire...

Children with acquired brain injury (ABI) can experience severe problems in establishing peer relationships. The attitudes peers hold toward a child with an ABI can significantly impact on their willingness to befriend. The present work sought to investigate the attitudes peers hold toward a fictional child with ABI. Fifty children from a primary s...