Publications by authors named "Pezzopane V"

Background: The neural activity of the Default Mode Network (DMN) is disrupted in patients with In Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Objectives: We used a novel multimodal approach to track neural signal propagation within the DMN in AD patients.

Methods: Twenty mild to moderate AD patients were recruited.

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Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is characterized by structural and functional dysfunction involving the Default Mode Network (DMN), for which the Precuneus (PC) is a key node. We proposed a randomized double-blind pilot study to determine neurobiological changes after 24 weeks of PC-rTMS in patients with mild-to-moderate AD. Sixteen patients were randomly assigned to SHAM or PC-rTMS, and received an intensive 2-weeks course with daily rTMS sessions, followed by a maintenance phase in which rTMS has been applied once a week.

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Objective: Persistent fatigue is a major symptom of the so-called 'long-COVID syndrome', but the pathophysiological processes that cause it remain unclear. We hypothesized that fatigue after COVID-19 would be associated with altered cortical activity in premotor and motor regions.

Methods: We used transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with EEG (TMS-EEG) to explore the neural oscillatory activity of the left primary motor area (l-M1) and supplementary motor area (SMA) in a group of sixteen post-COVID patients complaining of lingering fatigue as compared to a sample of age-matched healthy controls.

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The inhibition of action is a fundamental executive mechanism of human behaviour that involve a complex neural network. In spite of the progresses made so far, many questions regarding the brain dynamics occurring during action inhibition are still unsolved. Here, we used a novel approach optimized to investigate real-time effective brain dynamics, which combines transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with simultaneous electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings.

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Background: Since birth, during the exploration of the environment to interact with objects, we exploit both the motor and sensory components of the upper limb (UL). This ability to integrate sensory and motor information is often compromised following a stroke. However, to date, rehabilitation protocols are focused primarily on recovery of motor function through physical therapies.

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Neural oscillations in the gamma frequency band have been identified as a fundament for synaptic plasticity dynamics and their alterations are central in various psychiatric and neurological conditions. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and alternating electrical stimulation (tACS) may have a strong therapeutic potential by promoting gamma oscillations expression and plasticity. Here we applied intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS), an established TMS protocol known to induce LTP-like cortical plasticity, simultaneously with transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) at either theta (θtACS) or gamma (γtACS) frequency on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC).

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Objective: In Alzheimer disease (AD) animal models, synaptic dysfunction has recently been linked to a disorder of high-frequency neuronal activity. In patients, a clear relation between AD and oscillatory activity remains elusive. Here, we attempt to shed light on this relation by using a novel approach combining transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroencephalography (TMS-EEG) to probe oscillatory activity in specific hubs of the frontoparietal network in a sample of 60 mild-to-moderate AD patients.

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Understanding cerebellar-cortical physiological interactions is of fundamental importance to advance the efficacy of neurorehabilitation strategies for patients with cerebellar damage. Previous works have aimed to modulate this pathway by applying transcranial electrical or magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the cerebellum and probing the resulting changes in the primary motor cortex (M1) excitability with motor-evoked potentials (MEPs). While these protocols produce changes in cerebellar excitability, their ability to modulate MEPs has produced inconsistent results, mainly due to the MEP being a highly variable outcome measure that is susceptible to fluctuations in the excitability of M1 neurons and spinal interneurons.

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