Brain Stimul
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Enhancement of Cortical Excitability and Lower Limb Motor Function in Patients With Stroke by Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation.
Motor dysfunction in the lower limbs is a common sequela in stroke patients. ⋯ Combination anodal tDCS and conservative physical therapy appears to be a beneficial therapeutic modality for improving motor function in the lower limbs in patients with subacute stroke.
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Deep Brain Stimulation Influences Brain Structure in Alzheimer's Disease.
Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is thought to improve the symptoms of selected neurological disorders by modulating activity within dysfunctional brain circuits. To date, there is no evidence that DBS counteracts progressive neurodegeneration in any particular disorder. ⋯ We present the first in-human evidence that, in addition to modulating neural circuit activity, DBS may influence the natural course of brain atrophy in a neurodegenerative disease.
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Transcranial static magnetic field stimulation (tSMS) in humans reduces cortical excitability. ⋯ Our data indicate that the application of tSMS is safe in healthy human subjects, at least within these parameters.
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Individuals with communication disorders, such as aphasia, exhibit weak auditory cortex responses to speech sounds and language impairments. Previous studies have demonstrated that pairing vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) with tones or tone trains can enhance both the spectral and temporal processing of sounds in auditory cortex, and can be used to reverse pathological primary auditory cortex (A1) plasticity in a rodent model of chronic tinnitus. ⋯ VNS speech sound pairing provides a novel method to enhance speech sound processing in the central auditory system. Delivery of VNS during speech therapy could improve outcomes in individuals with receptive language deficits.
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Motor training usually increases the excitability of corticospinal outputs to the trained muscles. However, it is uncertain to what extent the change in excitability is a critical component of behavioral learning or whether it is a non-specific side effect. ⋯ The present study indicates that in the short term, increases in corticospinal excitability are not related to immediate changes in behavioral motor outcome.