Painful stimuli evoke potentials recorded from the parasylvian cortex in humans.

Cutaneous stimulation of the face and hand with a CO2 laser in three awake patients evoked potentials (LEPs) recorded from the dominant left parasylvian cortex. These were recorded by means of a subdural grid of electrodes implanted for evaluation of epilepsy. Stimulation of the contralateral face resulted in waveforms consisting of a negative potential (N2, 162 +/- 5 ms; mean +/- SE) followed by a positive potential (P2, 340 +/- 18 ms).

Tizanidine is an effective agent in the prevention of focal cerebral ischemia in rats: an experimental study.

Background: Focal cerebral ischemia secondary to cerebral vessel occlusion is still an important cause of mortality and morbidity. Excitatory neurotransmitters are gathered in the extracellular space during ischemia and initiate or stimulate a series of pathophysiological biochemical processes and consequently lead to neuronal death. Tizanidine (Sandoz compound DS 103-282, 5-chloro4,2 (2-imidazolin-2-yl-amino)-2,1,3-benzothiazol hydrochloride) is a selective alpha 2 adrenoreceptor agonist which shows its effect by stimulating presynaptic alpha 2 adrenoreceptors in central ASPergic and GLUergic system by inhibiting aspartic acid and glutamic acid release.

Neuronal activity in the region of the thalamic principal sensory nucleus (ventralis caudalis) in patients with pain following amputations.

Thalamic neuronal activity has not been studied in a primate model of peripheral nerve injury. We now report neuronal activity in the region of the human principal sensory nucleus of thalamus (ventralis caudalis) in awake patients during the physiologic exploration that precedes surgical procedures for treatment of stump pain and movement disorders. All patients with amputations showed increased thalamic representations of the stump as reflected in both receptive and projected field maps.

Thalamic neuronal activity correlated with essential tremor.

Animal studies suggest that an olivocerebello-bulbospinal pathway mediates harmaline induced tremor, which resembles essential tremor in humans. However, recent evidence suggests that thalamocortical pathways participate in essential tremor. Thalamic single neuron activity has been analysed during thalamotomy for essential tremor.