Identifying fasciculation potentials in motor neuron disease: A matter of probability.

Introduction: Fasciculations, the spontaneous activity of single motor units (MUs) are characteristic, but nonspecific for motor neuron disease (MND). We aimed to identify MU discharge properties to optimally differentiate MND patients from healthy controls.

Methods: High-density surface electromyography recordings were performed in the thenar muscles during 10 min of rest.

Diagnostic accuracy of electrically elicited multiplet discharges in patients with motor neuron disease.

Objective: To determine and compare the diagnostic accuracy of electrically elicited multiplet discharges (MDs) and fasciculation potentials (FPs) in motor neuron disease (MND).

Methods: Patients were eligible when they had MND in their differential diagnosis and were referred for electromyogram (EMG). Stimulated high-density surface EMG of the thenar muscles was performed on the same day as standard EMG examination.

Increased supernormality in patients with multiplet discharges: Evidence for a common pathophysiological mechanism behind multiplets and fasciculations.

Objective: To determine whether there is a relation between electrically evoked multiplet discharges (MDs) and motor axonal excitability properties. We hypothesized that electrically evoked MDs share their underlying pathophysiological mechanism with fasciculations.

Methods: High-density surface EMG and motor nerve excitability recordings of the thenar muscles were performed in 22 patients with motor neuron disease (MND) in their differential diagnosis and who were referred for EMG examination.

Motor Unit Tracking Using High Density Surface Electromyography (HDsEMG) . Automated Correction of Electrode Displacement Errors.

Introduction: This article is part of the Focus Theme of Methods of Information in Medicine on "Biosignal Interpretation: Ad-vanced Methods for Neural Signals and Images".

Objectives: The study discusses a technique to automatically correct for effects of electrode grid displacement across serial surface EMG measurements with high-density electrode arrays (HDsEMG). The goal is to match motor unit signatures from subsequent measurements and by this, achieve automated motor unit tracking.

CMAP scan discontinuities: automated detection and relation to motor unit loss.

Unlabelled: Objective To evaluate an automated method that extracts motor unit (MU) information from the CMAP scan, a high-detail stimulus-response curve recorded with surface EMG. Discontinuities in the CMAP scan are hypothesized to result from MU loss and reinnervation.

Methods: We introduce the parameter D50 to quantify CMAP scan discontinuities.

Adaptation of the cervico- and vestibulo-ocular reflex in whiplash injury patients.

The aim of this study was to investigate the underlying mechanisms of the increased gains of the cervico-ocular reflex (COR) and the lack of synergy between the COR and the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) that have been previously observed in patients with whiplash-associated disorders (WAD). Eye movements during COR or VOR stimulation were recorded in four different experiments. The effect of restricted neck motion and the relationship between muscle activity and COR gain was examined in healthy controls.

Tragedy of conducting a clinical trial; generic alert system needed.

Stopping a clinical trial without reaching the final objective is not the ideal outcome any researcher wants; sometimes ceasing is inevitable. Due to marginal inclusion of patients we were forced to cease our randomized clinical trial on the effectiveness of proprioceptive training on the development of chronic whiplash complaints a year after the start. Although incidence figures demonstrate that recruitment of the planned number of whiplash patients would be easily feasible, we were unable to enroll the amount of subjects.

Visual search deficits in Williams-Beuren syndrome.

Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS) is a rare genetic condition characterized by several physical and mental traits, such as a poor visuo-spatial processing and a relative strength in language. In this study we investigated how WBS subjects search and scan their visual environment. We presented 10 search displays on a computer screen to WBS subjects as well as control subjects, with the instruction to find a target out of several stimulus elements.

Interaction between ocular stabilization reflexes in patients with whiplash injury.

Purpose: In the past few decades, the automobile has become an increasingly more popular means of transport, which has led to an increasing number of rear-end collisions and consequently has resulted in more patients with whiplash-associated disorders (WADs). Recently, it was found that the gain of one of the ocular stabilization reflexes-the cervico-ocular reflex (COR)-is elevated in patients with whiplash injury. The COR responds to proprioceptive signals from the neck and acts in conjunction with the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) and the optokinetic reflex (OKR) to preserve stable vision on the retina during head motion.