The association between pelvic girdle pain and urinary incontinence among pregnant women in the second trimester.

Objective: To examine the association among pelvic girdle pain (PGP), urinary incontinence (UI), and pelvic floor muscle (PFM) function in pregnant women in the second trimester.

Methods: Fifty-five pregnant women (29 with PGP and 26 without) were enrolled. Urinary incontinence was measured via the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form.

Spike-timing-dependent plasticity induced in resting lower limb cortex persists during subsequent walking.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of human lower limb motor cortex paired with common peroneal nerve electrical stimulation produces a lasting modulation of motor cortex excitability following the principles of spike-timing-dependent plasticity. We previously demonstrated that this "paired associative stimulation" (PAS) protocol applied during walking induced a bidirectional modulation of cortical excitability. The present study tested the hypothesis that the excitability of lower limb motor cortex assessed during walking is increased when PAS is applied to the resting cortex.