External Pacing in Movement Rehabilitation using a Sensory Discriminative Approach

Overview

This presentation is designed for clinicians. Focus will be on the use of external pacing to enhance motor rehabilitation in a variety of clinical populations.

The importance of discrimination when using sensory feedback to positively change motor output and facilitate lasting neuroplastic change will be emphasized. Other points of emphasis include the use of priming, training at an optimal learning threshold, role of attention, and concepts of degeneracy and motor variability. Application of techniques will be reviewed, including specific clinical cases.

Learning Objectives

In this course, we will:

1. Understand the difference between internal and external focus of control, and the strengths and limitations of each.
2. Understand the importance/role of sensory discrimination in changing motor output.
3. Identify clinical population(s) where external pacing techniques can be applied, and what parameters to employ to optimize motor rehabilitation outcomes.

Speaker Bio

Chris Lamb, BSc, MPT, MSc student, completed his undergraduate degree in kinesiology from the University of Victoria in 2003, and then completed his Master of Physical Therapy from the University of Western Ontario in 2006. Chris worked in private practice from 2006-2023, initially in sports therapy, before gradually shifting towards treating people with more complex/chronic orthopaedic and neurological conditions (including chronic pain). In 2023, he started his MSc at the University of British Columbia, under the supervision of Dr. Lara Boyd in the Brain Behaviour Laboratory.

Chris’ research merges orthopaedic and neurological disciplines, and focuses on the maladaptive sensory/motor neuroplastic changes associated with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. He hopes that his research findings help better direct exercise rehabilitation strategies in this population.