Embouchure Muscle Activity in Student and Elite Trumpeters.

Aims: Objective information on embouchure muscle use in brass players is currently limited. This pilot study records and analyses embouchure muscle activity in trumpet players to identify typical patterns and to reveal how these can differ between playing tasks.

Methods: Activity in four embouchure muscles was recorded using surface electromyography in 7 conservatoire trumpet students and 3 elite professional trumpeters.

Nuclear expression of PG-21, SRC-1, and pCREB in regions of the lumbosacral spinal cord involved in pelvic innervation in young adult and aged rats.

In rats, ageing results in dysfunctional patterns of micturition and diminished sexual reflexes that may reflect degenerative changes within spinal circuitry. In both sexes the dorsal lateral nucleus and the spinal nucleus of the bulbospongiosus, which lie in the L5-S1 spinal segments, contain motor neurons that innervate perineal muscles, and the external anal and urethral sphincters. Neurons in the sacral parasympathetic nucleus of these segments provide autonomic control of the bladder, cervix and penis and other lower urinary tract structures.

Postural problems of the left shoulder in an orchestral trombonist.

Professional musicians require a disciplined and balanced regime of practise and performance to enable them to cope with the physical challenges of their chosen instrument and to reduce the risk of work- related injury. If practise or performance strategies are suddenly changed, permanent damage may occur even in a player with a mature, well-established technique. The trombone presents unique physical challenges which are heightened by recent developments in instrumental design as well as by orchestral working conditions.

Activity patterns in latissimus dorsi and sternocleidomastoid in classical singers.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the roles of the accessory respiratory muscles, latissimus dorsi (LD), and sternocleidomastoid, in classical singing.

Methods: Electromyography was used to record the activity of these muscles in six classically trained female singers carrying out a number of singing and nonsinging tasks. Movements of the chest and abdominal walls were monitored simultaneously using inductive plethysmography, and the sound of the phonations was recorded.

What can studying musicians tell us about motor control of the hand?

Most standard accounts of human anatomy and physiology are designed to meet the requirements of medical education and therefore consider their subject matter from the standpoint of typical rather than outstanding levels of performance. To understand how high levels of skill are developed and maintained, it is necessary to study elite groups such as professional athletes or musicians. This can lead to the rediscovery of arcane knowledge that has fallen into neglect through a lack of appreciation of its significance.

Biogenic amine and neuropeptide inputs to identified pelvic floor motoneurons that also express SRC-1.

In the rat, the neurochemical phenotypes of neurons that are presynaptic to motoneurons innervating the levator ani are poorly defined. In this study, motoneurons within the spinal nucleus of the bulbospongiosus (SNB) were revealed, using retrograde labelling, following injection of cholera toxin B subunit into the levator ani muscle. Different classes of neuron making substantial inputs onto these labelled neurons were revealed by using immunocytochemistry for dopamine beta hydroxylase, serotonin and substance P.

Changes in the substance P-containing innervation of the lumbosacral spinal cord in male Wistar rats as a consequence of ageing.

Quantitative image analysis was used to determine age-related changes in the substance P-containing innervation of autonomic and somatic nuclei in the lumbosacral spinal cord, which are associated with the control of micturition and sexual reflexes. In the upper lumbar segments (L1-L2), significant declines in the distribution density of substance P-containing processes were observed in the dorsal grey commissure, the intermediolateral cell column and the ventral horn. More caudally, at levels corresponding to L5 through S1, significant reductions were seen in the dorsal grey commissure and within the sacral parasympathetic nucleus.

Synaptic interactions between the terminals of slow-adapting type II mechanoreceptor afferents and neurones expressing gamma-aminobutyric acid- and glycine-like immunoreactivity in the rat spinal cord.

The object of this study was to analyse the synaptic interactions of slow-adapting type II (SAII) afferent terminals in laminae III-V of the rat spinal cord. The axons of SAII afferents were physiologically characterized by intracellular recording before injection with neurobiotin and preparation for electron microscopy. Axon terminals were serially sectioned and immunolabelled with antibodies against gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) or glycine by using a postembedding immunogold procedure.

SRC-1 localisation in lumbosacral spinal cord of male and female Wistar rats.

Nuclear receptor co-activators play an important role in enhancing transcriptional activity of steroid hormone receptors, however there is currently little information concerning their distribution within the spinal cord. In this study, the distribution of steroid receptor co-activator-1 (SRC-1) was examined with immunocytochemistry, in the lumbosacral cord of Wistar rats of both sexes. In all rats, regardless of sex, SRC-1 was predominant in neurons of the superficial laminae of the dorsal horn and within motorneurons of lamina IX.

The effects of ageing and of DSP-4 administration on the micturition characteristics of male Wistar rats.

This study sought to determine the effects of ageing on the in vivo micturition characteristics of male Wistar rats and to assess whether they might be replicated in young rats by using the neurotoxin DSP-4 to lesion locus coeruleus-derived noradrenergic pathways projecting to spinal cord nuclei controlling micturition. Significant age-related changes in micturition patterns were observed. There was a loss of a diurnal rhythm in micturition patterns and a large increase in voided volume, maximal between 21 and 24 months, which was paralleled by an increased water intake.

GABA- and glycine-like immunoreactivity in axons and dendrites contacting the central terminals of rapidly adapting glabrous skin afferents in rat spinal cord.

The object of the present study was to determine the nature and distribution of synaptic contacts on the terminals of rapidly adapting mechanosensory afferents innervating the glabrous skin of the rat foot. Afferents were physiologically characterized by intracellular recording, before injection with neurobiotin and preparation for electron microscopy. Axon terminals were serially sectioned and immunolabeled with antibodies against GABA and glycine using a postembedding immunogold method.

Age-associated changes in the monoaminergic innervation of rat lumbosacral spinal cord.

The effects of ageing on the innervation patterns of lumbosacral spinal nuclei involved in controlling lower urinary tract functions, including micturition, were studied using immunohistochemistry for serotonin (5-HT) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in male Wistar rats of 3 and 24 months. Quantitative image analysis revealed significant age-associated declines in the innervation of most regions including the intermediolateral cell nucleus, sacral parasympathetic nucleus, dorsal grey commissure and in the ventral horn including the dorsolateral nucleus which in the rat is one of the component nuclei homologous to Onuf's nucleus in man. Notable exceptions to this generalised decline were observed in the 5-HT innervation of the sacral parasympathetic nucleus, which was maintained, and in the region of the dorsolateral motor nucleus where TH-like immunoreactivity did not significantly decline.

Synaptic relationships between hair follicle afferents and neurones expressing GABA and glycine-like immunoreactivity in the spinal cord of the rat.

gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glycine have been implicated in the inhibition of sensory pathways in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. The object of this study is to investigate the interactions between neurones immunoreactive for GABA and/or glycine and hair follicle afferent terminals labelled by intracellular injection with neurobiotin. GABA and glycine-like immunoreactivity in axons and dendrites in synaptic contact with the afferent terminals was demonstrated by using a postembedding immunogold method, and serial section reconstruction was used to show the distribution and nature of these interactions in lamina III of the dorsal horn.

Presynaptic modulation of sensory neurons in the segmental ganglia of arthropods.

The afferent terminals of arthropod sensory neurones receive abundant input synapses, usually closely intermingled with the sites of synaptic output. The majority of the input synapses use the neurotransmitter GABA, but in some afferents there is a significant glutamatergic or histaminergic component. GABA and histamine shunt afferent action potentials by increasing chloride conductance.

Differential susceptibility to ageing of rat preganglionic neurones projecting to the major pelvic ganglion and of their afferent inputs.

We have analysed age-related changes in the morphology of preganglionic neurones in the lumbosacral spinal cord, labelled following injection of retrograde tracers into the major pelvic ganglion of young adult and aged male rats. We have also examined changes in neurotransmitter-characterised spinal afferent inputs to these neurones, or to the nuclei in which they lie, using light and electron microscope immunohistochemistry. In previous investigations of the major pelvic ganglion, the sympathetic, but not parasympathetic, postganglionic neurones were seen to exhibit age-related changes and the same pattern is seen in the preganglionic neurones.

Synaptic structure, distribution, and circuitry in the central nervous system of the locust and related insects.

The Orthopteran central nervous system has proved a fertile substrate for combined morphological and physiological studies of identified neurons. Electron microscopy reveals two major types of synaptic contacts between nerve fibres: chemical synapses (which predominate) and electrotonic (gap) junctions. The chemical synapses are characterized by a structural asymmetry between the pre- and postsynaptic electron dense paramembranous structures.