Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology
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Comparative Study
Is hemifacial spasm a phenomenon of the central nervous system? --The role of desflurane on the lateral spread response.
A signature EMG feature of hemifacial spasm (HFS) is the lateral spread response (LSR). Desflurane is a common anesthetic with potent effects on synaptic transmission. We tested the hypothesis that the LSR is mediated by corticobulbar components by comparing the LSR during total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) or TIVA plus desflurane during microvascular decompression (MVD) surgery. ⋯ This study demonstrates that facial nerve vascular compression and plastic changes within the CNS are part of the pathophysiology of HFS.
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Comparative Study
Increased supernormality in patients with multiplet discharges: Evidence for a common pathophysiological mechanism behind multiplets and fasciculations.
To determine whether there is a relation between electrically evoked multiplet discharges (MDs) and motor axonal excitability properties. We hypothesized that electrically evoked MDs share their underlying pathophysiological mechanism with fasciculations. ⋯ MDs are potentially useful as objective measure of increased distal axonal excitability at individual motor unit level and might complement clinical studies in MND.
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Comparative Study
Distinctive patterns of sonographic nerve enlargement in Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 1A and hereditary neuropathy with pressure palsies.
The extent of sonomorphologic differences of peripheral nerves between CMT and HNPP is unknown. ⋯ Our findings of specific sonomorphological phenotypes, differentiating CMT-1A from HNPP, may help to improve our pathophysiological insights in CMT and HNPP.
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To investigate whether the latent neural correlates of incentive processing differ between problem gamblers (PGs) and healthy controls (HCs). ⋯ The finding that PGs are hyposensitive to reward and punishment provides valuable insight into the nature of deficit in this disorder, and provides a foundation for future research and clinical interventions.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Movement observation-induced modulation of pain perception and motor cortex excitability.
The observation of movements increases primary motor cortex (M1) excitability. This exploratory study examined the effects of movement observation on pressure pain threshold (PPT) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)-indexed corticospinal excitability bilaterally. ⋯ These exploratory findings support the notion that M1 is a robust modulator of pain-related neural networks. This effect might be mediated through modulation of the GABAergic system and appears to differ from what is observed in chronic pain.