Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Front Hum Neurosci 2021 7;15:656975. Epub 2021 Jun 7.

Unidad de Trastornos de Movimiento y Sueño (TMS), Hospital General "Dr. Manuel Gea González," Mexico City, Mexico.

Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) coupled to robotic assistive devices have shown promise for the rehabilitation of stroke patients. However, little has been reported that compares the clinical and physiological effects of a BCI intervention for upper limb stroke rehabilitation with those of conventional therapy. This study assesses the feasibility of an intervention with a BCI based on electroencephalography (EEG) coupled to a robotic hand orthosis for upper limb stroke rehabilitation and compares its outcomes to conventional therapy. Read More

Sci Rep 2021 Jun 23;11(1):13179. Epub 2021 Jun 23.

Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Neurological Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, 812-8582, Japan.

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) at 20 Hz (β) has been shown to modulate motor evoked potentials (MEPs) when paired with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in a phase-dependent manner. Repetitive paired-pulse TMS (rPPS) with I-wave periodicity (1.5 ms) induced short-lived facilitation of MEPs. Read More

Sci Rep 2021 Jun 23;11(1):13176. Epub 2021 Jun 23.

Univ Lyon, UJM-Saint-Etienne, Inter-university Laboratory of Human Movement Biology, EA 7424, 40023, Saint-Etienne, France.

In healthy participants, corticospinal excitability is known to increase during motor simulations such as motor imagery (MI), action observation (AO) and mirror therapy (MT), suggesting their interest to promote plasticity in neurorehabilitation. Further comparing these methods and investigating their combination may potentially provide clues to optimize their use in patients. To this end, we compared in 18 healthy participants abductor pollicis brevis (APB) corticospinal excitability during MI, AO or MT, as well as MI combined with either AO or MT. Read More

Medicine (Baltimore) 2021 Jun;100(25):e26356

Department of Neurology, Palacký University Olomouc and University Hospital Olomouc.

Abstract: In dystonic and spastic movement disorders, abnormalities of motor control and somatosensory processing as well as cortical modulations associated with clinical improvement after botulinum toxin A (BoNT-A) treatment have been reported, but electrophysiological evidence remains controversial. In the present observational study, we aimed to uncover central correlates of post-stroke spasticity (PSS) and BoNT-A-related changes in the sensorimotor cortex by investigating the cortical components of somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs). Thirty-one chronic stroke patients with PSS of the upper limb were treated with BoNT-A application into the affected muscles and physiotherapy. Read More

Neuromodulation 2021 Jun 22. Epub 2021 Jun 22.

GI Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.

Objectives: Translumbosacral neuromodulation therapy (TNT) improves symptoms of fecal incontinence (FI), but its mechanism of action is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that TNT at one or more frequency will significantly improve underlying pathophysiology of FI through modulation of ascending and/or descending signaling pathways in the gut and brain axis and anorectal sensorimotor function.

Materials And Methods: We assessed afferent anorectal-cortical evoked potentials (CEP) following electrical stimulation of anorectum, efferent cortico-anorectal and lumbo-anorectal and sacro-anorectal motor evoked potentials (MEP) after transcranial and lumbosacral magnetic stimulations, and anorectal manometry before and after six weekly TNT sessions in FI subjects, randomized to 1, 5, or 15 Hz repetitive magnetic stimulations. Read More

Cortex 2021 May 11;141:436-448. Epub 2021 May 11.

School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Sydney, Australia.

Sensory attenuation is the phenomenon that stimuli generated by willed motor actions elicit a smaller neurophysiological response than those generated by external sources. It has mostly been investigated in the auditory domain, by comparing ERPs evoked by self-initiated (active condition) and externally-generated (passive condition) sounds. The mechanistic basis of sensory attenuation has been argued to involve a duplicate of the motor command being used to predict sensory consequences of self-generated movements. Read More

J Clin Neurophysiol 2021 May 31. Epub 2021 May 31.

Neurophysiology Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Hospital Universitari Dexeus, Barcelona, Spain; Neurology Department, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Barcelona, Spain; Neurology Department, Hospital de Neurorehabilitación, Institut Guttmann, Barcelona, Spain; and EMG Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital Clínic, Department of Medicine, University of Barcelona, August Pi Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain.

Purpose: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can change the excitability of the central nervous system and contribute to motor recovery of stroke patients. The aim of our study was to examine the short- and long-term effects of real versus sham bihemispheric tDCS combined with repetitive peripheral nerve stimulation in patients with acute stroke and a severe motor impairment.

Methods: The study was prospective, randomized, double blind, and placebo controlled. Read More

Neuroimage 2021 Jun 16;239:118272. Epub 2021 Jun 16.

Neurophysiology lab, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Via Pilastroni 4, 25125 Brescia, Italy. Electronic address:

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)-evoked potentials (TEPs) allow one to assess cortical excitability and effective connectivity in clinical and basic research. However, obtaining clean TEPs is challenging due to the various TMS-related artifacts that contaminate the electroencephalographic (EEG) signal when the TMS pulse is delivered. Different preprocessing approaches have been employed to remove the artifacts, but the degree of artifact reduction or signal distortion introduced in this phase of analysis is still unknown. Read More

World J Stem Cells 2021 May;13(5):452-469

New World Laboratories, Laval H7V 4A7, Quebec, Canada.

Background: The development of regenerative therapy for human spinal cord injury (SCI) is dramatically restricted by two main challenges: the need for a safe source of functionally active and reproducible neural stem cells and the need of adequate animal models for preclinical testing. Direct reprogramming of somatic cells into neuronal and glial precursors might be a promising solution to the first challenge. The use of non-human primates for preclinical studies exploring new treatment paradigms in SCI results in data with more translational relevance to human SCI. Read More

Clin Neurophysiol 2021 Apr 21;132(8):1770-1776. Epub 2021 Apr 21.

Department of Psychiatry, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Electronic address:

Objectives: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is associated with glutamatergic alterations, including the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDA-R). The NMDA-R plays an important role in synaptic plasticity, and individuals with MDD have been shown to have impairments in repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) motor plasticity. Here, we test whether D-cycloserine, a NMDA-R partial agonist, can rescue TMS motor plasticity in MDD. Read More

Sci Rep 2021 Jun 14;11(1):12496. Epub 2021 Jun 14.

Department of Neurosurgery, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Kasumi 1-2-3, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8553, Japan.

Transcranial electrical stimulated motor-evoked potentials (tcMEPs) are widely used to evaluate motor function in humans, and even in animal studies, tcMEPs are used to evaluate neurological dysfunction. However, there is a dearth of reports on extended tcMEP recordings in both animal models and humans. Therefore, this study examined a new technique for stably recording tcMEPs over several weeks in six healthy female Sprague-Dawley rats. Read More

Brain Stimul 2021 Jun 11. Epub 2021 Jun 11.

Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address:

Background: Over the past decade, the number of experimental and clinical studies using theta-burst-stimulation (TBS) protocols of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to modulate brain activity has risen substantially. The use of TBS is motivated by the assumption that these protocols can reliably and lastingly modulate cortical excitability despite their short duration and low number of stimuli. However, this assumption, and thus the experimental validity of studies using TBS, is challenged by recent work showing large inter- and intra-subject variability in response to TBS protocols. Read More

J Physiol 2021 Jun 9. Epub 2021 Jun 9.

Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Chicago, Illinois, 60611.

Key Points: Damage to corticospinal axons have implications for the development of spasticity following spinal cord injury (SCI). Here, we examined to which extent residual corticospinal connections and spasticity are present in muscles below the injury (quadriceps femoris and soleus) in humans with motor complete thoracic SCI. We found three distinct sub-groups of people: participants with spasticity and corticospinal responses in the quadriceps femoris and soleus, participants with spasticity and corticospinal responses in the quadriceps femoris only, and participants with no spasticity or corticospinal responses in either muscle. Read More

Sci Rep 2021 Jun 8;11(1):12102. Epub 2021 Jun 8.

Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, EPHE, INCIA, UMR 5287, 33000, Bordeaux, France.

Behavioral adaptation, a central feature of voluntary movement, is known to rely on top-down cognitive control. For example, the conflict-adaptation effect on tasks such as the Stroop task leads to better performance (e.g. Read More

Front Oncol 2021 21;11:676626. Epub 2021 May 21.

Department of Neurosurgery, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Background: The resection of a motor-eloquent glioma should be guided by intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IOM) but its interpretation is often difficult and may (unnecessarily) lead to subtotal resection. Navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) combined with diffusion-tensor-imaging (DTI) is able to stratify patients with motor-eloquent lesion preoperatively into high- and low-risk cases with respect to a new motor deficit.

Objective: To analyze to what extent preoperative nTMS motor risk stratification can improve the interpretation of IOM phenomena. Read More

PLoS One 2021 4;16(6):e0252965. Epub 2021 Jun 4.

Graduate Institute of Biomedical Materials and Tissue Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.

We investigated the effects of intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) on locomotor function, motor plasticity, and axonal regeneration in an animal model of incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI). Aneurysm clips with different compression forces were applied extradurally around the spinal cord at T10. Motor plasticity was evaluated by examining the motor evoked potentials (MEPs). Read More

Neurogastroenterol Motil 2021 Jun 3:e14173. Epub 2021 Jun 3.

Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Gastroenterology, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Centre for Gastrointestinal Sciences, Clinical Sciences Building, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, School of Medical Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.

Background: Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) and transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) have been shown to have physiological and functional effects on brain excitability and motor behavior. Yet, little is known about their effects in the swallowing system.

Aim: To examine the effects and optimal stimulation parameters of tACS and tRNS for modulating excitability of human pharyngeal motor cortex. Read More

Front Hum Neurosci 2021 17;15:617669. Epub 2021 May 17.

School of Engineering and Computer Science, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom.

The use of upper limb vibration (ULV) during exercise and rehabilitation continues to gain popularity as a modality to improve function and performance. Currently, a lack of knowledge of the pathways being altered during ULV limits its effective implementation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether indirect ULV modulates transmission along spinal and corticospinal pathways that control the human forearm. Read More

J Neural Eng 2021 Jun 2. Epub 2021 Jun 2.

Department of Biomendical Engineering, Tianjin University, Weijin Road 92rd, 17-515, Tianjin, Tianjin, 300072, CHINA.

Objective: With the development of clinical applications of motor imagery-based brain-computer interfaces (MI-BCI), a single-channel MI-BCI system that can be easily assembled is an attractive goal. However, Due to the low quality of the spectral power features in the traditional MI-BCI paradigm, the recognition performance of current single-channel systems is far lower than that of multi-channel systems, impeding their use in clinical applications.

Approach: In this study, the subjects' right and left hands were stimulated simultaneously at different frequencies to induce steady-state somatosensory evoked potentials (SSSEP). Read More

J Pediatr Orthop B 2021 May 28. Epub 2021 May 28.

Ortopediatri Istanbul, Academy of Pediatric Orthopaedics, Istanbul, Turkey.

Objectives: The most common treatment method for a fixed knee flexion contracture more than 10 degrees in cerebral palsy (CP) is distal femoral extension osteotomy (DFEO). However, a serious complication after a DFEO is neurological impairment. Its rates were reported as 5- 40%. Read More

Brain Sci 2021 May 31;11(6). Epub 2021 May 31.

Department of Neurosciences, "Iuliu Hațieganu" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Background: Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) often have, besides the characteristic motor manifestations, a wide variety of non-motor symptoms. These include apathy and anhedonia, common issues in PD, which can be quantified with the help of evaluation scales recommended by the literature. There are sensory non-motor manifestations of PD, some of which are easy to detect through electrophysiological studies. Read More

Pharmaceutics 2021 May 13;13(5). Epub 2021 May 13.

Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Georg-August-University, 37075 Göttingen, Germany.

Dopamine is crucial for neuroplasticity, which is considered to be the neurophysiological foundation of learning and memory. The specific effect of dopamine on plasticity such as long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) is determined by receptor subtype specificity, concentration level, and the kind of plasticity induction technique. In healthy human subjects, the dopamine precursor levodopa (L-DOPA) exerts a dosage-dependent non-linear effect on motor cortex plasticity. Read More

Brain Sci 2021 May 22;11(6). Epub 2021 May 22.

Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Rehabilitation, Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare, Kurashiki-City, Okayama 701-0193, Japan.

To advance our knowledge on the motor system during cyclic gait observation, we aimed to explore the effects of gaze fixation on corticospinal excitability evaluated by single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Fourteen healthy adult volunteers watched a video of a demonstrator walking on a treadmill under three different conditions: (1) observing the right lower limb, (2) observing the right ankle joint, and (3) observing the right lower limb on a video focused on the area below the knee. In each condition, motor-evoked potentials elicited by TMS in the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle were measured synchronously with the demonstrator's initial contact and toe-off points. Read More

Nutrients 2021 May 1;13(5). Epub 2021 May 1.

Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 97, 95123 Catania, Italy.

Background: Celiac disease (CD) may present or be complicated by neurological and neuropsychiatric manifestations. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) probes brain excitability non-invasively, also preclinically. We previously demonstrated an intracortical motor disinhibition and hyperfacilitation in de novo CD patients, which revert back after a long-term gluten-free diet (GFD). Read More

Exp Brain Res 2021 May 31. Epub 2021 May 31.

Brain Plasticity Lab, Department of Physical Therapy, College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1919 W. Taylor St., Chicago, IL, 60612, USA.

Ipsilateral motor pathways from the contralesional hemisphere to the paretic limbs may be upregulated to compensate for impaired function after stroke. Onset latency and duration of motor evoked potentials (MEPs) evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) provide insight into compensatory pathways but have been understudied in the lower limb. This study assessed MEP onset latency and duration in the lower limb after stroke, and compared ipsilateral and contralateral MEPs in the paretic and non-paretic limb. Read More

Respir Physiol Neurobiol 2021 May 28;292:103704. Epub 2021 May 28.

Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, Inserm, END-ICAP, 78000, Versailles, France. Electronic address:

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a promising, innovative, and non-invasive therapy used clinically. Efficacy of rTMS has been demonstrated to ameliorate psychiatric disorders and neuropathic pain through neuromodulation of affected neural circuits. However, little is known about the mechanisms and the specific neural circuits via which rTMS facilitates these functional effects. Read More

World Neurosurg 2021 May 28. Epub 2021 May 28.

Neurosurgery Departments, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt; Neurosurgery Department, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USA. Electronic address:

Objective: Multimodal intraoperative neuromonitoring (IOM) using somatosensory-evoked potentials and motor-evoked potentials is a sensitive and specific tool for detecting intraoperative neurologic injury during spine surgery. This study aimed to evaluate the use of multimodal IOM in a lower-middle-income country (LMIC) during cervical and thoracic spine surgery in order to prevent and predict new postoperative neurologic deficits early on. This is the first report of multimodal IOM application in LMICs. Read More

Neurosci Lett 2021 Jul 26;757:135960. Epub 2021 May 26.

Prince of Wales Clinical School, UNSW, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; Neuroscience Research Australia, UNSW, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.

In this work we examine the possible neural basis for two brainstem-spinal reflexes using source analyses of brain activity recorded over the cortex and posterior fossa. In a sample of 5 healthy adult subjects, using axial and vestibular stimulation by means of applied impulsive forces, evoked potentials were recorded with 63 channels using a 10 % cerebellar extension montage. In parallel, EMG was recorded from soleus and tibialis anterior muscles and accelerometry from the lower leg. Read More

Transl Psychiatry 2021 May 27;11(1):325. Epub 2021 May 27.

Takeda Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA.

TAK-653 is a novel α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (AMPAR)-positive allosteric modulator being developed as a potential therapeutic for major depressive disorder (MDD). Currently, there are no translational biomarkers that evaluate physiological responses to the activation of glutamatergic brain circuits available. Here, we tested whether noninvasive neurostimulation, specifically single-pulse or paired-pulse motor cortex transcranial magnetic stimulation (spTMS and ppTMS, respectively), coupled with measures of evoked motor response captures the pharmacodynamic effects of TAK-653 in rats and healthy humans. Read More

Neurosurg Rev 2021 May 27. Epub 2021 May 27.

Department of Neurosurgery, Klinikum Rechts Der Isar, Technische Universität München, Ismaninger Str. 22, 81675, Munich, Germany.

Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring of transcranial motor-evoked potentials (tcMEPs) may fail to produce a serviceable signal due to displacements by mass lesions. We hypothesize that navigated placement of stimulation electrodes yields superior potential quality for tcMEPs compared to the conventional 10-20 placement. We prospectively included patients undergoing elective cranial surgery with intraoperative monitoring of tcMEPs. Read More