Electrical, Hemodynamic, and Motor Activity in BCI Post-stroke Rehabilitation: Clinical Case Study.

The goal of the paper is to present an example of integrated analysis of electrical, hemodynamic, and motor activity accompanying the motor function recovery in a post-stroke patient having an extensive cortical lesion. The patient underwent a course of neurorehabilitation assisted with the hand exoskeleton controlled by brain-computer interface based on kinesthetic motor imagery. The BCI classifier was based on discriminating covariance matrices of EEG corresponding to motor imagery.

Pioneers in CNS inhibition: 1. Ivan M. Sechenov, the first to clearly demonstrate inhibition arising in the brain.

This article reviews the contributions of Ivan Michailovich Sechenov [1829-1905] to the neurophysiological concept of central inhibition. He first studied this concept in the frog and on himself. Later his trainees extended the study of central inhibition to other mammalian species.

Duchenne, Charcot and Babinski, three neurologists of La Salpetrière Hospital, and their contribution to concepts of the central organization of motor synergy.

Many currently accepted notions of motor control originate from a few seminal concepts developed in the latter half of the 19th century (see Bennett and Hacker, 2002). The goal of this review is to retrace some current ideas about motor control back to the thought of three French neurologists of Hospital of the Salpetrière hospital in Paris during the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century (Fig. 1): Guillaume Duchenne de Boulogne (1806-1875), Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893), and Joseph Babinski (1857-1932).

Reflections on Jacques Paillard (1920-2006)--a pioneer in the field of motor cognition.

This article reviews the scientific contributions of Jacques Paillard (1920-2006), who strengthened substantially the role of physiological psychology in the field of movement neuroscience. His research began in 1947 under the direction of the French neurophysiologist, Alfred Fessard (1900-1982), with whom he then collaborated for 9 years while an undergraduate and then graduate student and junior faculty member in psychology at the University of Paris (the Sorbonne). Paillard moved to the University of Marseille in 1957 as a Professor of Psychophysiology.

Inverse dynamic investigation of voluntary leg lateral movements in weightlessness: a new microgravity-specific strategy.

This study deals with the quantitative assessment of exchanged forces and torques at the restraint point during whole body posture perturbation movements in long-term microgravity. The work was based on the results of a previous study focused on trunk bending protocol, which suggested that the minimization of the torques exchanged at the restraint point could be a strategy for movement planning in microgravity (J. Biomech.

Why and how are posture and movement coordinated?

In most motor acts, posture and movement must be coordinated in order to achieve the goal of the task. The focus of this chapter is on why and how this coordination takes place. First, the nature of posture is discussed.

Inverse dynamic investigation of voluntary trunk movements in weightlessness: a new microgravity-specific strategy.

Present investigation faces the question of quantitative assessment of exchanged forces and torques at the restraints during whole body posture exercises in long-term microgravity. Inverse dynamic modelling and total angular momentum at the ankle joint were used in order to reconstruct movement dynamics at the restraining point, represented by the ankle joint. The hypothesis is that the minimisation of the torques at the interface point assumes a key role in movement planning in 0 g.

Absence of center of mass control for leg abduction in long-term weightlessness in humans.

The present investigation describes for the first time leg lateral abduction performance during long-term microgravity exposure. Two astronauts took part in the experiments, starting 2 weeks into the mission and lasting for 5 months. Results on joint angles kinematics confirm previous investigations on parabolic flights, showing good task fulfillment for both subjects.