Pain in Children and Adolescents with Cerebral Palsy: A Cross-sectional Survey Study.

Aim:  This study aims to investigate the prevalence, intensity, and location of pain in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP) and analyze pain-related symptoms and participation restrictions.

Methods:  Children and adolescents aged 2 to 16 years diagnosed with CP were invited to participate in a pain survey. The questionnaire was based on the German Pain Questionnaire for Children, Adolescents and Parents (DSF-KJ).

Slowing of Peripheral Nerve Conduction Velocity in Children and Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes Is Predicted by Glucose Fluctuations.

Unlabelled: Nerve conduction velocity (NCV) abnormalities are the forerunners of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the effect of glucose profile quality on NCV in children and young adults with type 1 diabetes. Fifty-three children age 5 to 23 years with type 1 diabetes were recruited to participate in the study, which was conducted prospectively at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Switzerland from 2016 to 2022.

Correlation between age and the sciatic nerve diameter in the first 2 years of life: A high-resolution ultrasound study.

Aim: To investigate the maturation of the peripheral nervous system by analyzing the cross-sectional area of the sciatic nerve during the first 2 years of life.

Methods: The sciatic nerve was examined by high-resolution ultrasound imaging in 52 children aged 0 days to 10 years, 45 of whom were younger than 2 years. The correlation between the cross-sectional area of the nerve and the age was statistically tested.

Gait is not Affected by Hemispherotomy-Case Report from Two Children.

In children with therapy refractory epilepsy, the functional disconnection of one hemisphere (hemispherotomy) may be considered as a treatment option. The visual field defects and hand function effects associated with the procedure have been extensively studied. However, the effect of the hemispherotomy on gait pattern has thus far only been analyzed qualitatively, and there is limited quantitative data.

Correlation of age and the diameter of the cervical nerve roots C5 and C6 during the first 2 years of life analyzed by high-resolution ultrasound imaging.

Aim: To analyze the increase in diameter of the nerve roots C5 and C6 in early childhood.

Methods: The nerve roots of 56 children aged 0 days to 10 years (47 younger than 2 years) were examined by high-resolution ultrasound imaging. The correlation of diameter and age was statistically tested and a logarithmic regression analysis was performed to develop a logarithmic growth model.

Counter-movement jump characteristics in children with Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 1a disease.

Background: Poor performance in sports, especially activities that require explosive movements, is a common reason for initial presentation of children with Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 1a (CMT1a) to the paediatric neuromuscular specialist.

Research Question: The aim of this descriptive, retrospective study was to analyse counter-movement jump characteristics in children with CMT1a in comparison to those in typically developing children (TDC).

Methods: This retrospective study included seven patients with CMT1a and 44 TDC from our data pool.

Etiology of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in a Large Cohort of Children.

(1) Background: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), a compressive mononeuropathy of the median nerve at the wrist, is rare in childhood and occurs most frequently due to secondary causes. (2) Methods: Medical history, electrodiagnostic findings, and imaging data of patients with CTS from two pediatric neuromuscular centers were analyzed retrospectively. The etiology of CTS was investigated and compared with the literature.

Investigation of the temporal and spatial dynamics of muscular action potentials through optically pumped magnetometers.

Aim: This study aims to simultaneously record the magnetic and electric components of the propagating muscular action potential.

Method: A single-subject study of the monosynaptic stretch reflex of the musculus rectus femoris was performed; the magnetic field generated by the muscular activity was recorded in all three spatial directions by five optically pumped magnetometers. In addition, the electric field was recorded by four invasive fine-wire needle electrodes.

Optically pumped magnetometers disclose magnetic field components of the muscular action potential.

Aim: Aiming at analysing the signal conduction in muscular fibres, the spatio-temporal dynamics of the magnetic field generated by the propagating muscle action potential (MAP) is studied.

Method: In this prospective, proof of principle study, the magnetic activity of the intrinsic foot muscle after electric stimulation of the tibial nerve was measured using optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs). A classical biophysical electric dipole model of the propagating MAP was implemented to model the source of the data.

The Phenotypic Spectrum of PRRT2-Associated Paroxysmal Neurologic Disorders in Childhood.

Pathogenic variants in , encoding the proline-rich transmembrane protein 2, have been associated with an evolving spectrum of paroxysmal neurologic disorders. Based on a cohort of children with PRRT2-related infantile epilepsy, this study aimed at delineating the broad clinical spectrum of PRRT2-associated phenotypes in these children and their relatives. Only a few recent larger cohort studies are on record and findings from single reports were not confirmed so far.

Change in cross-sectional area of the median nerve with age in neonates, infants and children analyzed by high-resolution ultrasound imaging.

Aim: To analyze age dependencies in the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the median nerve during early childhood.

Method: A total of 43 participants (32 of whom were children younger than 2 years) were included in this cross-sectional study to analyze the age dependency of the CSA of the median nerve at three locations (wrist, forearm and upper arm) using high-resolution ultrasound images.

Results: A strong and highly significant correlation was found between age and CSA (p < 0.

First Clinical Experience with Anti-myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein Antibody-Positive Optic Neuritis.

Background: Antibodies against myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG-IgG) have been consistently found in a range of demyelinating disorders. In this context, MOG-IgG-associated optic neuritis (ON) has been suggested as a new subset of optic neuropathy. However, clinical manifestations and distinctive characteristics have only rarely been described.

Optically Pumped Magnetometers for Magneto-Myography to Study the Innervation of the Hand.

The central nervous system exerts control over the activation of muscles via a dense network of nerve fibers targeting each individual muscle. There are numerous clinical situations where a detailed assessment of the nerve-innervation pattern is required for diagnosis and treatment. Especially, deep muscles are hard to examine and are as yet only accessible by uncomfortable and painful needle EMG techniques.

A Non-Magnetic Rotating Disk Stimulator for the Study of Neuromagnetic Correlates of Sensorimotor Interaction.

Fine motor skills in humans require close interaction between the motor and the sensory systems. It is still not fully understood, how sensory feedback modulates motor commands. This is due to the fact, that there is no approach for investigating the sensorimotor cortical-interaction in sufficient detail.

Hydraulic driven fast and precise nonmagnetic tactile stimulator for neurophysiological and MEG measurements.

Electric stimulation of the peripheral nerves is well established as a diagnostic and research tool to analyze the somatosensory system. However, electric stimulation has some disadvantages. Electric stimulation of the median nerve triggers action potentials in all fiber populations of the nerve.

Functional MRI-guided probabilistic tractography of cortico-cortical and cortico-subcortical language networks in children.

In this study, we analyzed the structural connectivity of cortico-cortical and cortico-subcortical language networks in healthy children, using probabilistic tractography based on high angular resolution diffusion imaging. In addition to anatomically defining seed and target regions for tractography, we used fMRI to target inferior frontal and superior temporal cortical language areas on an individual basis. Further, connectivity between these cortical and subcortical (thalamus, caudate nucleus) language regions was assessed.

Experience-induced plasticity of thalamocortical axons in both juveniles and adults.

We examined the effect of sensory deprivation on thalamocortical (TC) projections to the rat primary somatosensory cortex at different postnatal ages ranging from P0 to P96. Rats had their whiskers clipped off with one or two vibrissae spared. TC axons innervating barrel cortex were specifically labeled by injecting virus expressing fluorescent proteins into the corresponding primary (VPM) and/or secondary (POm) thalamic nuclei.

Automated axon length quantification for populations of labelled neurons.

Virus-based methods for labelling populations of cortical neurons, when combined with cell-type specific recombinant promoters and techniques allowing temporal control of gene expression, provide neuroscience with new opportunities to examine the connectivity between brain regions and how this connectivity is modified by experience or disease. However, to take full advantage of these technical advances, it is necessary to develop new methods for quantification of the axonal projections revealed. Here we describe a method for quantitative analysis of axonal projection patterns emanating from populations of labelled cells, using transmitted light bright field microscopy.

Transmitted light brightfield mosaic microscopy for three-dimensional tracing of single neuron morphology.

A fundamental challenge in neuroscience is the determination of the three-dimensional (3D) morphology of neurons in the cortex. Here we describe a semiautomated method to trace single biocytin-filled neurons using a transmitted light brightfield microscope. The method includes 3D tracing of dendritic trees and axonal arbors from image stacks of serial 100-microm-thick tangential brain sections.

Nonlinear anisotropic diffusion filtering of three-dimensional image data from two-photon microscopy.

Two-photon microscopy in combination with novel fluorescent labeling techniques enables imaging of three-dimensional neuronal morphologies in intact brain tissue. In principle it is now possible to automatically reconstruct the dendritic branching patterns of neurons from 3-D fluorescence image stacks. In practice however, the signal-to-noise ratio can be low, in particular in the case of thin dendrites or axons imaged relatively deep in the tissue.