Search results for "Motor"
showing 10 items of 3137 documents
Laterality effects in motor learning by mental practice in right-handers.
2014
Converging evidences suggest that mental movement simulation and actual movement production share similar neurocognitive and learning processes. Although a large body of data is available in the literature regarding mental states involving the dominant arm, examinations for the nondominant arm are sparse. Does mental training, through motor-imagery practice, with the dominant arm or the nondominant arm is equally efficient for motor learning? In the current study, we investigated laterality effects in motor learning by motor-imagery practice. Four groups of right-hander adults mentally and physically performed as fast and accurately as possible (speed/accuracy trade-off paradigm) successive…
Finger movements induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation change with hand posture, but not with coil position
1998
We attempted to map the representations of movements in 2 normal subjects by delivering five transcranial magnetic stimuli (TMS) with a focal coil to each of a grid of positions over the primary motor area (M1). Isometric forces were recorded from the contralateral index finger. Maps were made with the hand in a semiflexed “neutral” position, and with the thumb and index finger opposed in a “pincer” grip. The electromyogram (EMG) was monitored to ensure relaxation. The wrist was immobilized. In the neutral position, TMS at almost all positions produced abduction. Flexion was produced in the pincer position. Thus, while sensitive to changes in posture, TMS mapping may not be sensitive to the…
Botulinum Toxin A reduces neurogenic flare but has almost no effect on pain and hyperalgesia in human skin.
2003
Botulinum toxin A (BoNT/A) has been used therapeutically to treat muscular hypercontractions and sudomotor hyperactivity. There is increasing evidence that BoNT/A might also have analgesic properties, in particular in headache. In the present investigation we tested the often cited hypothesis that BoNT/A-induced analgesia can be attributed to inhibition of neuropeptide release from nociceptive nerve fibers. In 15 healthy volunteers BoNT/A (5, 10, 20 mouse units BOTOX) or saline (contralateral side) was injected intracutaneously on the volar forearm. On day zero, the day of injection, no further tests were performed. We repeatedly elicited pain, mechanical hyperalgesia and neurogenic flare b…
The ipsilateral corticospinal responses to cross-education are dependent upon the motor-training intervention
2018
This study aimed to identify the ipsilateral corticospinal responses of the contralateral limb following different types of unilateral motor-training. Three groups performing unilateral slow-paced strength training (SPST), non-paced strength training (NPST) or visuomotor skill training (VT) were compared to a control group. It was hypothesised that 4 weeks of unilateral SPST and VT, but not NPST, would increase ipsilateral corticospinal excitability (CSE) and reduce short-interval cortical inhibition (SICI), resulting in greater performance gains of the untrained limb. Tracking error of the untrained limb reduced by 29 and 41% following 2 and 4 weeks of VT. Strength of the untrained limb in…
Significant reduction of physical activity in patients with neuromuscular disease during COVID-19 pandemic: the long-term consequences of quarantine
2020
Abstract Background Quarantine was the measure taken by governments to control the rapid spread of COVID-19. This restriction resulted in a sudden change in people’s lifestyle, leading to an increase in sedentary behavior and a related decrease in the practice of physical activity (PA). However, in neuromuscular diseases patients need to perform regular PA to counteract the negative consequences of the disease. Hence, the aim of this study was to estimate the levels of PA, measured as energy expenditure (MET–minute/week), among patients with neuromuscular disease (NMD) before and during the last week of quarantine. Methods A total of 268 Italian subjects, living in Sicily, completed an adap…
Cerebral Microbleeds and Long-Term Cognitive Outcome: Longitudinal Cohort Study of Stroke Clinic Patients
2012
<i>Background:</i> Vascular cognitive impairment causes significant disability in the elderly and is common following ischaemic stroke. Although the underlying mechanisms and prognostic factors remain unclear, small vessel diseases are known to contribute. Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) are a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) manifestation of small vessel diseases and may contribute to vascular cognitive impairment, particularly frontal-executive functions. We hypothesized that baseline CMBs would predict long-term cognitive outcome, specifically frontal-executive function. <i>Methods:</i> A cohort of consecutive patients found to have CMBs when first referred to a strok…
Manual Reaction Times and Brain Dynamics after 'Awake Surgery' of Slow-Growing Tumours Invading the Parietal Area. A Case Report.
2012
International audience; PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: Awake surgeries of slow-growing tumours invading the brain and guided by direct electrical stimulation induce major brain reorganizations accompanied with slight impairments post-operatively. In most cases, these deficits are so slight after a few days that they are often not detectable on classical neuropsychological evaluations. Consequently, this study investigated whether simple visuo-manual reaction time paradigms would sign some level of functional asymmetries between both hemispheres. Importantly, the visual stimulus was located in the saggital plane in order to limit attentional biases and to focus mainly on the inter-hemispheric asymmetry…
Electrophysiological brainstem testing in the diagnosis of reversible brainstem ischemia.
2002
The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity of multimodal electrophysiological brainstem testing in the diagnosis of clinically suspected reversible ischemic deficits of the brainstem compared with diffusion weighted MR imaging. We investigated 158 consecutive patients presenting with signs of acute brainstem dysfunction. Serial electrophysiological brainstem tests including masseter reflex, blink reflex, masseter inhibitory reflex, AEP, MEP, EOG and the oculoauricular phenomenon were applied. In 14 of the 158 patients neurological deficits resolved in less than 24 hours, which was suggestive of a transitory ischemic attack (TIA), 19 patients had brainstem signs for more than 24 h…
Ocular pseudomyasthenia: report of a case with a pineal region tumor.
1991
A case presenting with clinical features of ocular myasthenia and a false-positive edrophonium test is reported. Brain CT and MRI scan revealed a pineal region tumor histologically verified as germinoma. We recommend evaluating patients with clinical features of myasthenia gravis (MG) confined to the ocular muscles for intracranial mass lesions.
Neuromuscular electrical stimulation training induces atypical adaptations of the human skeletal muscle phenotype: a functional and proteomic analysis
2011
Import JabRef | WosArea Physiology; Sport Sciences; International audience; The aim of the present study was to define the chronic effects of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) on the neuromuscular properties of human skeletal muscle. Eight young healthy male subjects were subjected to 25 sessions of isometric NMES of the quadriceps muscle over an 8-wk period. Needle biopsies were taken from the vastus lateralis muscle before and after training. The training status, myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoform distribution, and global protein pattern, as assessed by proteomic analysis, widely varied among subjects at baseline and prompted the identification of two subgroups: an "active" (ACT) …