Neuroreport
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Clinical Trial
Effect on human attention of exposure to the electromagnetic field emitted by mobile phones.
This study examined the effect of exposure to the electromagnetic field emitted by mobile phones on human attention. Three measures of attention were administered to 72 teenagers, 37 of whom were mobile phone users. ⋯ The results suggest that exposure to the electromagnetic field emitted by mobile phones may have a mild facilitating effect on attention functions, which is consistent with previous observations that exposure to the electromagnetic field has a facilitating effect on cognitive processing. The possibility that mobile phone users may be naturally better at multiple tasking tasks was discussed.
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Comparative Study
Heat hyperalgesia following partial sciatic ligation in rats: interacting nature and nurture.
As in humans, levels of neuropathic pain produced by nerve injury are highly variable among animals. This variability was attributed to genetic and environmental factors. ⋯ We show that heat sensitivity of intact rats and levels of heat hyperalgesia of PSL-injured rats were highly variable across eight different rat strains and seven different diets. Thus, genetic and environmental variables interact in determination of levels of chronic neuropathic sensory disorders in rats.
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Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Degeneration of nociceptive nerve terminals in human peripheral neuropathy.
Patients with peripheral neuropathy have symptoms involving small-diameter nociceptive nerves and elevated thermal thresholds. Nociceptive nerves terminate in the epidermis of the skin and are readily demonstrated with the neuronal marker, protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5). To investigate the pathological characteristics of elevated thermal thresholds, we performed PGP 9.5 immunocytochemistry on 3 mm punch skin biopsies (the forearm and the leg) from 55 normal subjects and 35 neuropathic patients. ⋯ The proportion of neuropathic patients with reduced epidermal nerve densities was larger than the proportion of neuropathic patients with elevated thermal thresholds. These results indicated that degeneration of epidermal nerve terminals preceded the elevation of thermal thresholds. Skin biopsy together with immunocytochemical demonstration of epidermal innervation offers a new approach to evaluate small-fiber sensory neuropathy.