Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology
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To evaluate possible functional asymmetries of the motor cortex on the hand-dominant versus the non-dominant hemisphere. ⋯ In the right-handers, paired TMS studies showed a functional asymmetry of the motor cortex between the dominant and the non-dominant hand. The left-handers did not show this lateralization. Under TMS investigation their motor cortex function appeared different from that of right-handers.
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Case Reports Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Clinical evaluation criteria for the assessment of impaired pain sensitivity by thulium-laser evoked potentials.
Cortical potentials evoked by carbon dioxide laser pulses have been applied in clinical practice to study nociceptive pathways for several years. In this study, we evaluate the properties of an infrared laser (thulium-YAG) with a penetration depth in the skin that matches the intracutaneous depth of nociceptors. ⋯ The thulium-YAG laser is a useful tool for assessment of impaired pain sensitivity. Representative case reports illustrate that unlike for early SEP components, the most frequent LEP abnormalities were amplitude differences.
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The study addresses two controversial issues surrounding the nature of anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs). The first deals with the reproducible APA patterns in proximal postural muscles and variable APA patterns reported for the muscles controlling the ankle joint (TA-SOL). We hypothesized that the TA-SOL muscles participate mainly in the compensation of lateral and rotational perturbations, in particular those associated with asymmetrical movements. The second issue deals with decreased APAs reported during both very stable and unstable standing. We hypothesized that APA changes during unstable standing might depend on the actual mechanical nature of instability. ⋯ We conclude that the proximal muscles provide a general pattern counteracting expected perturbations in the anterior-posterior direction while the distal muscles deal with asymmetrical perturbations and the modulation of APAs in unusual conditions such as standing on rollerskates. There seems to be no unambiguous relation between the magnitude of APAs and the stability of standing: Depending on the exact mechanical nature of postural instability, it could be associated with qualitatively different changes in the APAs.
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The after-effect of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) on pain-related brain responses was investigated using electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG). ⋯ The results indicated that TENS reduced PREP following painful electrical stimulation, and that the origin of PREP was, at least partially, different from that of PRCF which was not changed after TENS. An after-effect of TENS significantly affected the generation process of PREP, but it was not enough to relieve the subjective painful feeling.