Motor learning in unilateral cerebral palsy and the influence of corticospinal tract reorganization.

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a complex neurological disorder, characterized by congenital motor disability associated with behaviour, perception and cognition disorders. The sensorimotor impairments represent the main hallmark of the disease, significantly impacting the quality of life. So far, few studies have investigated motor learning abilities in CP and their association with the plastic reorganization of the motor system remains largely unknown.

Paired Associative Stimulation drives the emergence of motor resonance.

Background: Associative plasticity, the neurophysiological bases of Hebbian learning, has been implied in the formation of the association between sensory and motor representations of actions in the Mirror Neuron System; however, such inductor role still needs empirical support.

Objective/hypothesis: We have assessed whether Paired Associative Stimulation (PAS), known to activate Hebbian associative plasticity, can induce the formation of atypical (absent in normal conditions), visuo-motor associations, reshaping motor resonance.

Methods: Healthy participants underwent a novel PAS protocol (mirror-PAS, m-PAS), during which they were exposed to repeated pairings of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) applied over the right primary motor cortex (M1), time-locked with the view of index-finger movements of the right (ipsilateral) hand.

Cortical and spinal excitability changes after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation combined to physiotherapy in stroke spastic patients.

Objective: Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) has been used to treat post-stroke upper limb spasticity (ULS) in addition to physiotherapy (PT). To determine whether rTMS associated with PT modulates cortical and spinal cord excitability as well as decreases ULS of post-stroke patients.

Methods: Twenty chronic patients were randomly assigned to either the intervention group-1 Hz rTMS on the unaffected hemisphere and PT, or control group-sham stimulation and PT, for ten sessions.

"How Did I Make It?": Uncertainty about Own Motor Performance after Inhibition of the Premotor Cortex.

Optimal motor performance requires the monitoring of sensorimotor input to ensure that the motor output matches current intentions. The brain is thought to be equipped with a "comparator" system, which monitors and detects the congruence between intended and actual movement; results of such a comparison can reach awareness. This study explored in healthy participants whether the cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the right premotor cortex (PM) and right posterior parietal cortex (PPC) can disrupt performance monitoring in a skilled motor task.