A few days ago, I responded to a Tweet from Glyn Blakey (@saebouglyn) and Mary Banks (@MaryBanksy) after Mary had posted up a paper suggesting that the Saebo Mobile Arm Support (SaeboMAS) had reduced tonic muscle activity across all muscles, and that this had had a positive influence on corticomotor selectivity of biceps brachii during a counterbalanced movement tasks. This all sounds very fancy, but what it basically means is that if you support the arm, the patient who is having difficulty moving, can concentrate on one joint activity while the rest of the limb is supported. You'll get a better idea if you see a picture of the SaeboMAS at work: Seeing the paper made me wonder … [Read more...] about There are no new treatments in physiotherapy
Neuroscience and a radical view of consciousness (Spanish)
Here is another Spanish translation by Alma Viviana Silva of an earlier blogpost. Again, huge thanks to Viviana for this amazing work. Neurociencia y una visión radical de la consciencia Uno de los mayores retos en la filosofía y la ciencia siempre ha sido definir lo que significa ser consciente. Para algo tan fundamental como nuestras creencias sobre lo que es real y qué es ficción, lo que es real o verdadero y lo que es falso, se podría pensar que los fundamentos básicos de nuestra creencia de que - de una conciencia biológica - sería un hecho científico. No lo es tanto asi. Los científicos y los filósofos no estan realmente más cerca de la comprensión de la naturaleza de la … [Read more...] about Neuroscience and a radical view of consciousness (Spanish)
What skills are you losing?
In a recent article by titled Listening-touch, Affect and the Crafting of Medical Bodies through Percussion, Anna Harris discusses the effect that technology has had on the loss of doctors' physical assessment and treatment skills. The article focuses on the technique of percussion - the 'listening touch' as she calls it, that comes from percussing the chest to perceive the density of underlying tissues. Here's the abstract for the paper, and here's a link to the paper itself: Abstract The growing abundance of medical technologies has led to laments over doctors’ sensory de-skilling, technologies viewed as replacing diagnosis based on sensory acumen. The technique of percussion has … [Read more...] about What skills are you losing?