Search results for "Motor performance"
showing 10 items of 378 documents
Functional Role of Cerebellar Gamma Frequency in Motor Sequences Learning: a tACS Study
2021
Although the role of the cerebellum in motor sequences learning is widely established, the specific function of its gamma oscillatory activity still remains unclear. In the present study, gamma (50 Hz)—or delta (1 Hz)—transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) was applied to the right cerebellar cortex while participants performed an implicit serial reaction time task (SRTT) with their right hand. The task required the execution of motor sequences simultaneously with the presentation of a series of visual stimuli. The same sequence was repeated across multiple task blocks (from blocks 2 to 5 and from blocks 7 to 8), whereas in other blocks, new/pseudorandom sequences were reproduce…
ICA of full complex-valued fMRI data using phase information of spatial maps.
2015
Background ICA of complex-valued fMRI data is challenging because of the ambiguous and noisy nature of the phase. A typical solution is to remove noisy regions from fMRI data prior to ICA. However, it may be more optimal to carry out ICA of full complex-valued fMRI data, since any filtering or voxel-based processing may disrupt information that can be useful to ICA. New method We enable ICA of the full complex-valued fMRI data by utilizing phase information of estimated spatial maps (SMs). The SM phases are first adjusted to properly represent spatial phase changes of all voxels based on estimated time courses (TCs), and then these are used to segment the voxels into BOLD-related and unwant…
Motor imagery
2015
International audience; Before participating in a space mission, astronauts undergo parabolic-flight and underwater training to facilitate their subsequent adaptation to weightlessness. Unfortunately, similar training methods can't be used to prepare re adaptation to planetary gravity. Here, we propose a quick, simple and inexpensive approach that could be used to prepare astronauts both for the absence and for the renewed presence of gravity. This approach is based on motor imagery (MI), a process in which actions are produced in working memory without any overt output. Training protocols based on MI have repeatedly been shown to modify brain circuitry and to improve motor performance in h…
Why laparoscopists may opt for three-dimensional view: a summary of the full HTA report on 3D versus 2D laparoscopy by S.I.C.E. (Società Italiana di …
2018
Background Three-dimensional view in laparoscopic general, gynaecologic and urologic surgery is an efficient, safe and sustainable innovation. The present paper is an extract taken from a full health technology assessment report on three-dimensional vision technology compared with standard two-dimensional laparoscopic systems. Methods A health technology assessment approach was implemented in order to investigate all the economic, social, ethical and organisational implications related to the adoption of the innovative three-dimensional view. With the support of a multi-disciplinary team, composed of eight experts working in Italian hospitals and Universities, qualitative and quantitative d…
Effects of physical activity, specific exercise and traumatic brain injury on motor abilities : theoretical and pragmatic assessment
2010
Might as well jump: Sound affects muscle activation in skateboarding
2014
The aim of the study is to reveal the role of sound in action anticipation and performance, and to test whether the level of precision in action planning and execution is related to the level of sensorimotor skills and experience that listeners possess about a specific action. Individuals ranging from 18 to 75 years of age - some of them without any skills in skateboarding and others experts in this sport - were compared in their ability to anticipate and simulate a skateboarding jump by listening to the sound it produces. Only skaters were able to modulate the forces underfoot and to apply muscle synergies that closely resembled the ones that a skater would use if actually jumping on a ska…
Brain representation of action observation in human infants.
2015
Imitative learning has long been established as extremely important for early development. However, neural mechanisms involved in early imitative behaviours are still areas of active research. Neurophysiological and brain-imaging studies have been recently performed that provide initial evidence of brain activation associated with action observation in the first months of life. In this review we examine all studies exploring the effects of action observation on brain function assessed by means of non-invasive brain-mapping techniques. Seventeen papers were selected as a result of our literature search. The strongest evidence for a neural signature of action observation comes from studies ex…
Intermittent ethanol exposure induces inflammatory brain damage and causes long-term behavioural alterations in adolescent rats
2007
Adolescent brain development seems to be important for the maturation of brain structures and behaviour. Intermittent binge ethanol drinking is common among adolescents, and this type of drinking can induce brain damage. Because we have demonstrated that chronic ethanol treatment induces inflammatory processes in the brain, we investigate whether intermittent ethanol intoxication enhances cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in adolescent rats, and whether these mediators induce brain damage and cause permanent cognitive dysfunctions. Adolescent rats were exposed to ethanol (3.0 g/kg) for two consecutive days at 48-h intervals over 14 days. Levels of COX-2, iN…
Evaluating the neurotoxic effects of lactational exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Spanish children.
2012
Although the brain continues developing in the postnatal period, epidemiological studies on the effects of postnatal exposure to neurotoxic POPs through breast-feeding remain mostly inconclusive. Failure to detect associations between postnatal exposure and health outcomes may stem from the limitations of commonly employed approaches to assess lactational exposure. The aim of the present study was to assess whether lactational exposure to polychlorinated biphenyl-153 (PCB-153), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), or hexachlorobenzene (HCB) as estimated with a physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model, is associated with decrements in mental and psychomotor development scores of…
Functional brain imaging: a window into the visuo-vestibular systems
2007
Advances have been made in identifying how areas involved in processing vestibular, ocular motor, and visual information are represented in the human cortex as well as the cortical interaction between these systems in healthy subjects.While we know how some vestibular and ocular motor disorders modify visuo-vestibular interaction by changing the 'normal' cortical activation-deactivation patterns, it is still early days in functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of patients with specific disorders. Findings from current brain imaging studies of several vestibular, ocular motor, and cerebellar disorders are presented.The promise of more insights into the complex neuronal networks of the…