{"id":19,"date":"2025-11-17T10:00:05","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T15:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/?page_id=19"},"modified":"2025-11-18T09:23:33","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T14:23:33","slug":"research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/research\/","title":{"rendered":"Research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ongoing Projects<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Operant Conditioning of the Soleus Stretch Reflex in Adults with Spastic Unilateral Cerebral Palsy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Abnormal muscle stiffness, or <em>spasticity<\/em>, is the most common cause of disability in people with cerebral palsy (CP), affecting more than 80% of individuals. It can lead to tight muscles, abnormal posture, and difficulty with movement. As adults with CP age, spasticity often becomes worse, causing pain and making daily activities more challenging. While current treatments can provide short-term relief, they are often costly, may have side effects, and require frequent repetition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our project explores a new, non-invasive approach called <strong>Operant Conditioning (OC)<\/strong> to help reduce muscle stiffness. OC uses feedback training to help the nervous system \u201crelearn\u201d how to control reflexes that contribute to spasticity. By targeting and reducing overactive reflexes in the leg muscles, we hope to decrease stiffness, improve movement, and enhance overall quality of life for adults living with cerebral palsy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;69efc06816c10&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" data-wp-key=\"69efc06816c10\" class=\"aligncenter size-third_column wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"364\" height=\"471\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2299\/Recruitment-Flyer-IRB-approved-364x471.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-34\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2299\/Recruitment-Flyer-IRB-approved-364x471.jpg 364w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2299\/Recruitment-Flyer-IRB-approved-232x300.jpg 232w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2299\/Recruitment-Flyer-IRB-approved-791x1024.jpg 791w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2299\/Recruitment-Flyer-IRB-approved-768x994.jpg 768w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2299\/Recruitment-Flyer-IRB-approved-1187x1536.jpg 1187w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2299\/Recruitment-Flyer-IRB-approved-1583x2048.jpg 1583w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2299\/Recruitment-Flyer-IRB-approved-500x647.jpg 500w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2299\/Recruitment-Flyer-IRB-approved-1000x1294.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2299\/Recruitment-Flyer-IRB-approved-1280x1656.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2299\/Recruitment-Flyer-IRB-approved.jpg 1700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 364px) 100vw, 364px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\taria-label=\"Enlarge\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.imageButtonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.imageButtonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ongoing Projects Operant Conditioning of the Soleus Stretch Reflex in Adults with Spastic Unilateral Cerebral Palsy Abnormal muscle stiffness, or spasticity, is the most common cause of disability in people with cerebral palsy (CP), affecting more than 80% of individuals. It can lead to tight muscles, abnormal posture, and difficulty with movement. As adults with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2097,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-19","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2097"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19\/revisions\/36"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/nmr2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}