ABSTRACTS
FIRST AND SECOND QUARTERS, 1972

Am. J . Occup. Ther. 26, 3, April, 1972:
R id e r , B. A.: Tonic Neck Reflexes.

Summary: This article reviews some of the literature on the 
asymmetrical and symmetrical tonic neck reflexes and their 
relevance in healthy and neurologically impaired persons.

N o r t o n , Y.: Minimal Cerebral Dysfunction.
Summary: This is the first part o f a two-part paper which 
deals comprehensively with the problems of children with 
minimal cerebral dysfunction. In this issue, the stages and 
processes in the development o f perceptual-motor function 
are analysed, emphasizing the importance of normal 
sensorimotor feedback and the effect of continual faulty 
feedback on the developing patterns of movement.

\m. J . Occup. Ther. 26, 4, May/June, 1972:
^ N o r t o n , Y .: Minimal Cerebral Dysfunction.
Summary: The second part of the above-mentioned paper 
will be o f considerable interest to physiotherapists. It deals 
with the evaluation of minimal cerebral dysfunction, and 
proposes a method of treatment based upon the Bobaths’ 
neurodevelopmental approach. The author shows how 
abnormal reflexes and patterns of movement hamper the 
development of motor skills in even minimally affected 
children and describes how treatment can facilitate organized 
motor behaviour and prepare the child for the attainment 
of more advanced perceptual and academic skills. A com­
prehensive assessment chart designed to evaluate the quality 
of movement is presented with detailed notes on the adminis­
tration and evaluation of each test.

Brain, 4 5,1,1972:
A shby, P., A n d r e w s , C., K n o w l e s , L ., and L a n c e , J. W. : 

Pyramidal and Extra-pyramidal Control of Tonic 
Mechanisms in the Cat.

Summary: This study was prompted by the observation that 
hemiplegia as a result of a lesion in the internal capsule is 
characterized by exaggeration of tonic muscle reflexes in the 
affected limbs, whilst experimental pure pyramidal lesions 
show no increased tonic activity. The authors used vibration 
to produce a sustained reflex muscle contraction and then 
ittempted to inhibit this contraction by electrical stimulation 
>f the cortex and brainstem. Inhibition was obtained along 
| pathway extending from the cruciate cortex through the 

-medial portions of the internal capsule and cerebral peducles 
to the region o f the brainstem. It was concluded that an extra- 
pyramidal pathway is responsible for the inhibition of 
reflex tonic activity and that interruption of this pathway 
in the internal capsule results in the release o f tonic mecha­
nisms.

Develop. Med. and Child Neurol., 14, 2, April, 1972:
S. Sa in t - A n n e  D a r g a s s ie s : Neurodevelopmental Symp­

toms during the first year o f life.
Summary: The author, well known for his neurological 
studies of infants, discusses in detail the major signs of both 
normal development and neurodevelopmental disorder at 
various ages from newborn to one year of age. He emphasizes 
the importance of not only evaluating the infant’s level in 
the various fields o f normal development, but also of 
conducting a systematic search for abnormal neurological 
®'gns. In the second part a comprehensive series o f examina­
tion and recording charts is given, the results of which -  
"hen the infant is followed over even a short period -  may 
Provide “alarm signals” of the development o f motor or 
vai u ’a^ ect‘ve Pr°t>lerns. This long article would make 

l • reading for physiotherapists concerned with the 
valuation of young brain-damaged children.

SEPTEMBER, 1972

Exp. Train Research, 14, 3, February, 1972:
St u a r t , D. G . ,  M o s h e r , C. G ., G e r l a c h , R . L., and 

R e i n k i n g , R . M . :  Mechanical Arrangement and 
Transducing properties of Golgi tendon organs.

Summary: In an investigation of tendon-organs in the soleus 
and anterior tibial muscles of the cat the authors demonstrated 
that tendon-organs are arranged both in parallel and in 
series with adjacent muscle fibres, and that activation o f the 
one could modify the response of the other. They also 
confirmed the findings o f previous workers who showed that 
tendon-organs are more sensitive to active (contraction) 
forces than to passive (stretch) forces. They concluded that 
tendon-organs are active in the continual reflex control of 
normal muscle activity.

J . Appl. Physiol., 32, 4, April, 1972:
T h y s , H., F a r a g g i a n a , T ., and M a r g a r ia , R . : Utilization 

of muscle elasticity in exercise.
Summary: Parameters were measured during two exercises -  
deep knee bending followed immediately by knee extension, 
and deep knee bending followed by a brief pause before 
extension was attempted. In all cases the maximal speed was 
higher, the time taken less, and the mean power and mechani­
cal efficiency were greater in the exercise utilizing “ rebound” . 
It was concluded that “elastic potential energy” stored in 
the muscles stretched during the knee-bending phase is 
utilized for the performance of extension.

Page 15

J . Neurosurg., 36, 4, April, 1972:
Summary: The greater part of this issue is devoted to spinal 
cord injuries. The editorial covers federal programs for the 
care and study o f spinal cord injuries in America. It is 
followed by an interesting series of articles on experimental 
work being conducted on paraplegia.

Neurology, 22, 2, Feburary, 1972:
H o p p e r , C . L„ M a t t h e w s , C . G., and C l e e l a n d , C . S. : 

Symptom Instability and thermoregulation in multiple 
sclerosis.

Summary: A multiple sclerosis patient who had noticed 
that his vision (and to a less marked degree the strength and 
co-ordination o f his limbs) improved considerably after 
drinking iced water, was studied further. Various tempera­
ture-related tests were carried out and confirmed that visual 
acuity varied inversely with the direction o f body temperature 
change. This improvement appeared more due to the type of 
cold-stimulus applied than to the degree of change, since a 
brief immersion of one hand in ice water also produced 
maximal improvement. F or this reason the authors postulate 
that the improvement may be due to a hormonal thermo­
regulatory response rather than to direct cooling of the 
affected nerves.

Ibid., 22, 3, March, 1972:
H e c k m a n n , J. R.: Excitability curve: a new technique 

for assessing human peripheral nerve excitability in vivo.
Summary: After discussing the possible inaccuracy of 
strength-duration curves, mostly due to human error, the 
authors describe a technique for studying the excitability of 
nerves rather than the degree o f innervation. This is done by 
means of a surface recording electrode situated proximally 
over the nerve, which records the nerve action potentials 
produced by a stimulating electrode delivering square-wave 
impulses of decreasing duration distally. The excitability 
curve is obtained at a lower rheobase than the strength- 
duration curve, and the differences in the curves were found 
to be statistically significant at durations of 1 and 0 03 
msec.

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