Experimental brain research. Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Expérimentation cérébrale
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The aim of this study was to explore how people use egocentric (i.e., with respect to their body) and allocentric (i.e., with respect to another element in the environment) references in combination with coordinate (metric) or categorical (abstract) spatial information to identify a target element. Participants were asked to memorize triads of 3D objects or 2D figures, and immediately or after a delay of 5 s, they had to verbally indicate what was the object/figure: (1) closest/farthest to them (egocentric coordinate task); (2) on their right/left (egocentric categorical task); (3) closest/farthest to another object/figure (allocentric coordinate task); (4) on the right/left of another object/figure (allocentric categorical task). ⋯ Furthermore, egocentric judgments were more accurate than allocentric judgments when the response was Immediate rather than delayed and 3D objects rather than 2D figures were used. This pattern of results is discussed in the light of the functional roles attributed to the frames of reference and spatial relations by relevant theories of visuospatial processing.
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Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) uses a weak electric current to modulate neuronal activity. A neurophysiologic outcome measure to demonstrate reliable tDCS modulation at the group level is transcranial magnetic stimulation engendered motor evoked potentials (MEPs). Here, we conduct a study testing the reliability of individual MEP response patterns following a common tDCS protocol. ⋯ Using this common protocol, we found the effects of tDCS on MEP amplitudes to be highly variable at the individual level. In addition, no significant effects of tDCS on MEP amplitude were found at the group level. Future studies should consider utilizing a more strict experimental protocol to potentially account for intra-individual response variations.
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Spinal nociceptive long-term potentiation (LTP) can be induced by high- or low-frequency conditioning electrical stimulation (CES) in rodent preparations in vitro. However, there is still sparse information on the effect of different conditioning frequencies inducing LTP-like pain amplification in humans. In this study, we tested two other paradigms aiming to explore the CES frequency effect inducing pain amplification in healthy humans. ⋯ In the 10 and 200 Hz sessions, the superficial blood flow 10 min after CES was significantly higher than in the control session reaching a plateau after 20 and 10 min, respectively; for the 100 Hz paradigm, a stable level was found without significant differences compared with CES and control sessions. 10 Hz CES caused a lower SF-MPQ score than 100 Hz. High-frequency (200 Hz) and low-frequency (10 Hz) paradigms can induce heterotopic pain amplification similar to the traditional 100 Hz paradigm. The 10 Hz paradigm can be an appealing alternative paradigm in future studies due to its specific association with low-level discharging of C-fibers during inflammation.