The purpose of the study is to examine whether certain neck strengthening exercises result in change in size of the neck muscles being targeted.

Musculoskeletal Ultrasound is a non invasive, safe tool that will be used to measure the size of certain muscles in your neck. This will allow us to determine if these muscles actually get bigger in response to targeted exercise. Muscle size is a factor associated with strength.

This study will help us tease out the time it takes to create neck muscle hypertrophy, or increase in muscle size, in order to develop effective protocols for neck strengthening which may be useful in the management of chronic neck pain.

Weakness in certain neck muscles may be associated with the development of neck pain and we hope to determine effective training protocols for these neck muscle groups.

We are looking to examine the various factors that contribute to the changes seen with Physical Therapy for chronic neck pain. These factors include the components of care involving the way a patient perceives their pain or disability, as well as the interaction with their care giver, which contribute to the effect of the Physical Therapy (PT) treatment. The study will assign subjects to one of three groups. The first group will receive a manual therapy treatment approach, the second will receive a simulated manual therapy treatment approach and the third will receive no treatment and act as a waitlist control. This design will allow us to tease out the effects of the treatment itself compared with the other factors which may contribute to change as well as any improvement which occurs as result of natural history. You will be seen for an initial assessment where you will complete surveys and measurements will be performed looking at how far you can move and the way that you move your neck. You will then be seen for 3 additional visits weekly over the next three weeks if you are assigned to the manual therapy or simulated manual therapy group. You will be seen for an initial visit and a follow up after three weeks if you are assigned to the waitlist/control group. All groups will complete the surveys and have repeat measurements performed at the final follow up visit.

Adherence to home exercise is important to achieve upper limb recovery after stroke. However, adherence is typically low. Therefore, a new home exercise program with an Apple Watch and iPhone app was created to improve adherence to upper limb exercises for stroke survivors at home. Participants will come to our lab to experience the new home exercise program. Participants who opt for home use will bring the device home to try the new home exercise program at home. The purpose of this study is for researchers to examine usability and feasibility of participants using the new home exercise program.

Anxiety related to movement has been found related to pain, disability and activity avoidance in persistent low back pain. Therefore, it significantly impact on the person's performance of daily activities. The current method of measuring anxiety related to movement in low back pain has been by using questions. However, the questions do not address anxiety related to specific movement and activities. Therefore, it is important to determine whether we can obtain the physiological change in anxiety (heart rate, skin response, and respiratory rate) by using some novel protocol where the participants will be imagining pictures of daily activities tasks. We will simultaneously measure their physiological anxiety-related responses which are temporary in nature and they usually perceive during their daily activities. Furthermore, we will provide initial idea on does the full questionnaires or items in the questionnaires are measuring anxiety related to movement or not, which can be considered in future large studies.

The purpose of this study is to develop and test if upper limb task practice and muscle activity training improve upper limb function in stroke survivors. Participants will be asked to come to the laboratory 3 times a week for 6 weeks to receive upper limb task practice and/or muscle activity training. Participants will also come to the laboratory for additional 3 visits for assessments of upper extremity function. The total duration of the study will be 2.5 months.

Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) is the most efficacious treatment for children with hemiparesis from a perinatal arterial stroke but instead, weekly low-dose OT and/or PT is typical. The aims of this study are to compare 2 high doses of treatment to usual care in helping infants improve skills on the hemiplegic hand/arm and to improve bimanual activities. In addition, the association with gross motor, language and cognition will be explored.

The study team is recruiting 20 adults with spasticity due to chronic stroke and 20 adults with no neurological injuries for a 4 day study over 1 week. In people with chronic stroke, one of the most common and disabling problems is spasticity (increased muscle tone or muscle stiffness). The purpose of this research study is to examine effects of dry needling on the nervous system (pathways between the muscle, spinal cord, and brain) in people with spasticity due to chronic stroke. Dry needling is a procedure in which a thin, stainless steel needle is inserted into your skin to produce a muscle twitch response. It is intended to release a knot in your muscle and relieve pain.

The total study duration is 4 visits over one week. The first visit will take about 1.5 hours, during which the study team will determine the best electrode placement and create a removeable cast of your arm or leg to aid in placing electrodes in the next visits. The second visit will take about 3 hours, during which dry needling will take place, and the fourth and fifth visits will take about 1.5 hour. During all visits you will be asked to participate in examinations of reflexes (muscle responses to non-invasive nerve stimulation) and arm/leg function.

Hand disability after stroke has a profound negative impact on functional ability and independence. Hand therapy may be augmented with sensory stimulation for better outcomes. We have developed a novel sensory stimulation - unfelt vibration applied via a wristwatch. Participants will receive this novel stimulation with hand task practice therapy or therapy only to determine if use of this stimulation is better for recovery.

Walking after a lower extremity amputation is often difficult. It is important that researchers and clinicians understand the mechanisms that inhibit normal walking function. In this study, we are recruiting individuals with lower extremity limb loss for a walking and balance investigation. We will also be studying matched healthy controls to do similar study procedures. All study procedures will occur on the campus of MUSC by a licensed Physical Therapist and experienced researcher. Any questions should be directed to the coordinator listed.

Rehabilitation interventions including resistance training, functional and task-specific therapy, and gait or locomotor training have been shown to be successful in improving motor function in individuals with neurologic disease or injury. Recent investigations conducted in our laboratory indicate that intense resistance training coupled with task-specific functional training lead to significant gains in functional motor recovery. Similarly, gait rehabilitation involving intense treadmill training and/or task-specific locomotor training has been shown to be effective in improving locomotor ability. However, the underlying neural adaptations associated with these therapeutic approaches are not well understood. Our primary goal is to understand the motor control underpinnings of neurologic rehabilitation in order to apply this knowledge to future generations of therapeutic interventions.