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The aim of this study was to examine the effects of Assisted Cycle Therapy (ACT) on self-efficacy and exercise perception in older adults with Down syndrome (DS) after a three times a week for 8 weeks intervention. Thirteen participants were in the ACT group in which a motor assisted their

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of Assisted Cycle Therapy (ACT) on self-efficacy and exercise perception in older adults with Down syndrome (DS) after a three times a week for 8 weeks intervention. Thirteen participants were in the ACT group in which a motor assisted their cycling to be performed at least 30% faster than voluntary cycling (VC), 11 participants were in the voluntary cycling group and two participants were in the no cycling (NC) group. The results showed that both exercise groups (i.e., ACT and VC) improved in their self-efficacy after the 8 week intervention. In addition, exercise perception improved following ACT and not VC or NC. Our results are discussed with respect to their future implications for exercise in the DS population. It might be that the yielded results were due to differences in effort required by each intervention group as well as the neurotrophic factors that occur when muscle contractions create synaptic connections resulting in improvement in cognition and feelings of satisfaction. In the future, research should focus on the psychological factors such as social accountability and peer interaction as they relate to ACT and physical activity in person's with DS.
ContributorsTucker, Kori Ann (Author) / Ringenbach, Shannon (Thesis director) / Arnold, Nathaniel (Committee member) / Holzapfel, Simon (Committee member) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
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Description
Lower extremity function is vital for activities of daily living especially in stroke survivors. An innovative way to improve lower extremity function may be Assisted Cycle Therapy. This is among the first studies to examine ACT in stroke survivors. Twenty-three participants post-stroke performed ACT, VC and NC and pre and

Lower extremity function is vital for activities of daily living especially in stroke survivors. An innovative way to improve lower extremity function may be Assisted Cycle Therapy. This is among the first studies to examine ACT in stroke survivors. Twenty-three participants post-stroke performed ACT, VC and NC and pre and post measures of lower extremity function were conducted with the Lower Extremity Motor Coordination Test (LEMOCOT). The results showed that the non-paretic lower extremity improved its function after ACT, but not after VC or NC. Lower extremity function in the paretic leg improved after ACT and VC, but not after NC. These results suggest that ACT resulted in increased production of BDNF in the motor cortex which resulted in improvements in global motor function.
ContributorsSzeto, Monica (Author) / Ringenbach, Shannon (Thesis director) / Holzapfel, Simon (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
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Description
The purpose of this study, originally, was to contribute to the completion of a meta-analysis conducted by Mara Wierstra from the University of Virginia. Wierstra had requested individual participant data from two separate studies conducted in our lab: "Acute bouts of assisted cycling improves cognitive and upper extremity movement functions

The purpose of this study, originally, was to contribute to the completion of a meta-analysis conducted by Mara Wierstra from the University of Virginia. Wierstra had requested individual participant data from two separate studies conducted in our lab: "Acute bouts of assisted cycling improves cognitive and upper extremity movement functions in adolescents with Down syndrome" and "Assisted Cycling Therapy (ACT) improves inhibition in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder." From the data requested, the participants were required to complete three separate tests (i.e., Tower of London, Trail Making Task and the Stroop Test). After compiling the data and sending it to her, we decided to conduct a small meta-analysis of our own, drawing connecting conclusions from the data from the two studies. We concluded that observationally our data suggest an advantage for ACT over voluntary cycling and no cycling across two separate populations (i.e., Autism Spectrum Disorder and Down syndrome), and across different measures of executive function (i.e., Stroop Test, Trail Making Test, and Tower of London). The data suggest that the ACT interventions may promote the upregulation of neurotropic factors leading to neurogenesis in the prefrontal cortex of the brain.
ContributorsParker, Cade Joseph (Author) / Ringenbach, Shannon (Thesis director) / Holzapfel, Simon (Committee member) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
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Description
Upper extremity function is vital for activities of daily living especially in stroke survivors. An innovative way to improve upper extremity function has been shown with Assisted Cycle Therapy (ACT). This is among the first study to examine ACT in stroke survivors. 13 stroke survivors performed ACT, VC, and NC

Upper extremity function is vital for activities of daily living especially in stroke survivors. An innovative way to improve upper extremity function has been shown with Assisted Cycle Therapy (ACT). This is among the first study to examine ACT in stroke survivors. 13 stroke survivors performed ACT, VC, and NC and pre and post measures of upper extremity function were conducted with the box and blocks test (BBT). The results showed that non-paretic upper extremity improved its function after ACT and VC, but not after NC. For the paretic arm, while the results did not reach conventional levels of significance, improvements in upper extremity function following ACT more so than VC or NC. These results were interpreted to suggest that ACT resulted in increased production of BDNF in the motor cortex, which resulted in improvements in global motor function.
ContributorsHeyer, Brittany Nicole (Author) / Ringenbach, Shannon (Thesis director) / Holzapfel, Simon (Committee member) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
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Description
Executive function is vital for activities of daily living especially in stroke survivors because it is critical to everyday tasks (e.g., driving, cooking, etc.). An innovative way to improve executive function may be Assisted Cycling Therapy (ACT). This is among the first studies to use a Stroop task to measure

Executive function is vital for activities of daily living especially in stroke survivors because it is critical to everyday tasks (e.g., driving, cooking, etc.). An innovative way to improve executive function may be Assisted Cycling Therapy (ACT). This is among the first studies to use a Stroop task to measure inhibition, selective attention, and information processing speed following ACT in stroke survivors. Twenty-three participants post-stroke performed ACT, voluntary cycling (VC) and no cycling (NC). The results showed that there were improvements in the Stroop task following an acute session of ACT but not following VC or NC. These results suggest that ACT resulted in increased afferent information which may have resulted in increased arousal and excitability in regions of the prefrontal cortex. These factors have been shown to improve executive function.
ContributorsCooper, Aspen (Author) / Ringenbach, Shannon (Thesis director) / Holzapfel, Simon (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
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Description
Previous research has found improvements in motor and cognitive measures following Assisted Cycle Therapy (AC) in adolescence with Down syndrome (DS). Our study investigated whether we would find improvements in older adults with DS on measures of leisure physical activity (GLTEQ) and sleep, which are early indicators of Alzheimer's disease

Previous research has found improvements in motor and cognitive measures following Assisted Cycle Therapy (AC) in adolescence with Down syndrome (DS). Our study investigated whether we would find improvements in older adults with DS on measures of leisure physical activity (GLTEQ) and sleep, which are early indicators of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in persons with Down syndrome. This study consisted of eight participants with Down syndrome between 31 and 51 years old that cycled for 30 minutes 3 x/week for eight weeks either at their voluntary cycling rate (VC) or approximately 35% faster with the help of a mechanical motor (AC). We predicted that, based on pilot data (Gomez, 2015), GLTEQ would either maintain or improve after AC, but would decrease after VC and would stay the same after NC. We predicted that the sleep score may improve after both VC or AC or it may improve more after VC than AC based on pilot data related to leisure activity. Our results were consistent with our prediction that GLTEQ will either maintain or improve after AC but will decrease after VC. Our results were not consistent with our prediction that sleep may improve after both VC or AC or it may improve more after VC than AC, possibly because we did not pre-screen for sleep disorders. Future research should focus on recruiting more participants and using both objective and subjective measures of sleep and physical activity to improve the efficacy of the study.
ContributorsParker, Lucas Maury (Author) / Ringenbach, Shannon (Thesis director) / Buman, Matthew (Committee member) / Holzapfel, Simon (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / College of Public Service and Community Solutions (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05