Purpose: (1) To determine the impact of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied alone or combined with other therapies on the recovery of motor function after stroke and (2) To determine tDCS dosage effect.
Methods: Randomized controlled trials comparing the effects of tDCS with sham, using the Barthel Index (BI), the upper and lower extremity Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), and the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), were retrieved from PubMed, Medline (EBSCO), and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) from their inception to June 2021. Calculations for each assessment were done for the overall effect and associated therapy accounting for the influence of stroke severity or stimulation parameters.
Sleep deprivation (SD) is known to be associated with decreased cognitive performance; however, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. As interactions between distinct brain regions depend on mental state, functional brain networks established by these connections typically show a reorganization during task. Hence, analysis of functional connectivity (FC) could reveal the task-related change in the examined frontal brain networks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: β-adrenergic receptors play an important role in mitigating the pressor effects of sympathetic nervous system activity in young women. Based on recent data showing oral contraceptive use in women abolishes the relationship between muscle sympathetic nervous system activity and blood pressure, we hypothesized forearm blood flow responses to a β-adrenergic receptor agonist would be greater in young women currently using oral contraceptives (OC+, n = 13) when compared to those not using oral contraceptives (OC-, n = 10).
Methods: Women (18-35 years) were studied during the early follicular phase of the menstrual cycle (days 1-5) or placebo phase of oral contraceptive use.