Paediatric physiology

Physiology (print-out version)

9. Neurophysiology: how brain and nerves work

10. Nervous system: showing spinal cord; interneuron; dorsal root ganglion; sensory and motor systems

11. Excitatory Nerves, hypertonic: excitatory nervous patterns leading to high tone

12. Inhibitory Nerves: stimulation of inhibitory nerve leads to reduced tone

63. Gait. 1 Stance phase: heel strike; loading response; mid stance; terminal stance. 2 Swing phase: pre-swing; initial swing; mid swing; terminal swing

64. Body planes: frontal, frontal movement, abduction and adduction; Sagittal, sagittal movement, flexion, extension; Horizontal, horizontal movement, rotation

13. Developmental points between birth and 5 years old. typical development at four months in the following order: motor/ smooth development/ observation/ social skills/ speaking: Children with cerebral palsy will not match these, which can be a useful guide. these are: arms help to raise head; plays with both hands; able to observe toys; responds to sounds; smiles at mother

14. typical development at eight months: investigates unfamiliar briefly; grasps toy block with hand; pays attention, looks for toys; makes sounds: ma ma ta ta; capable of playing ‘boo’

15. typical development at one year: stands alone, walks if held; pick up with thumb, forefinger; indicates ‘wheel’ ‘doll’ ‘eye’; 1 or 2 words, knows meaning; gives toy to parent

16. typical development and one and a half years: stands without falling; stacks three toy blocks; closes the lid; knows meaning of ten words; says own name if asked

17. typical development at 2 years: jumps holding two people; turns lid to open bottle; names six parts of the body; answers in two word sentence; mimics activities of adults

18. typical development at 3 years: descends stairs unaided; mimics lines and circles; can name three colours; uses ‘what, who, where?’; plays together with a friend

19. typical development at 4 years: holds pencil with fingertips; jumps with one foot; calculates three blocks; uses full sentences; plays games with friends

20. typical development 5 years: jumps on one foot forwards; mimics a sign; draws people; talks meaningfully; plays and follows game

21. Voluntary movements: Voluntary movements strengthen automatic reflexes and motivating these through goal orientated play makes the effort fun

22. automatic movements: Automatic movements are largely unconscious, yet the vital patterns of muscle movements need encouragement

23. Importance of play: facilitating movement without the child needing to think about it engages co-operation whilst keeping things fun and full of play. showing: balance and reaction; ‘Wheelbarrow’ is a fun game that increases shoulder stability; kicking a football (even with a walking frame) helps weight transference

24. Play: An essential to all development, play provides life skills through such simple routines as feeding, dressing, and washing, as well as promote responses and awareness

25. Types of play: Play is fun! Whether exploring, imitating, energetic, skilful, social, imaginative, interactive, pretence and role play, storytelling and reading... ALL are essential! typical play shown: explore (peek-a-boo); interact and amuse; energetic role play; imitate and ‘help’; communicate with skills

26. Normal postural tone: a wide variety of patterns and movement are included here, stimulating automatic response, balancing and protective reaction. smooth co-ordinated sequence of movement

Gait animation

Normal gait

The key phases:The STANCE followed by its SWING phase is normally an even and flowing rhythmn, yet it requires considerable muscle and nerve coordination. Clues to any underlying difficulty for a child can often be detected in their gait.

Running gait slowed down

The key phases:The STANCE followed by its SWING phase is normally an even and flowing rhythmn, yet it requires considerable muscle and nerve coordination. Clues to any underlying difficulty for a child can often be detected in their gait.

Range of movement animation

External/internal rotation

Arm rotation

EXTERNAL ROTATION of arm moves it OUTWARDS around the body
INTERNAL ROTATION moves it INWARDS toward the body

Flexion/ extension

Shoulder/ elbow flexion/extension

FLEXION means closing the angle between any two parts, while
EXTENSION increases the angle between them.

Abduction/ Adduction

Arm abduction

Arm ABDUCTION means moving away from the body
ADDUCTION means movement back in toward it.