Purpose: This narrative review discusses the neurophysiology of human motor cortex as it influences gait, and recent advances in the application of non-invasive brain stimulation to the lower limb motor cortex of stroke survivors. Although walking is a high priority following stroke, the efficacy of promising new therapies has yet to warrant their widespread clinical use. For the upper limb, numerous brain stimulation protocols have been described. These protocols, adapted for the leg, are now being used to examine the cortical control of gait. This research discounts the long-held notion that "we walk from our spinal cords".
Methods: Our review describes this research as it relates to the lower limb, especially the use of non-invasive brain stimulation to enhance neuroplasticity. The review also discusses the possible development of a prognostic algorithm for walking recovery after stroke.
Conclusion: This review concludes with the expectation that novel brain stimulation protocols combined with therapy will eventually demonstrate a level of effectiveness sufficient to promote their wide acceptance in neurorehabilitation settings.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/RNN-2011-0625 | DOI Listing |
J Neuroinflammation
January 2025
Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
The thrombolytic protease tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is expressed in the CNS, where it regulates diverse functions including neuronal plasticity, neuroinflammation, and blood-brain-barrier integrity. However, its role in different brain regions such as the substantia nigra (SN) is largely unexplored. In this study, we characterize tPA expression, activity, and localization in the SN using a combination of retrograde tracing and β-galactosidase tPA reporter mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
Center for Cognitive Science, Cognitive and Developmental Psychology Unit, University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU), 67663, Kaiserslautern, Germany.
Short-term memory for sequences of verbal items such as written words is reliably impaired by task-irrelevant background sounds, a phenomenon known as the "Irrelevant Sound Effect" (ISE). Different theoretical accounts have been proposed to explain the mechanisms underlying the ISE. Some of these assume specific interference between obligatory sound processing and phonological or serial order representations generated during task performance, whereas other posit that background sounds involuntarily divert attention away from the focal task.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFeNeuro
January 2025
Action Control Lab, Department of Human Physiology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA.
Selectively stopping individual parts of planned or ongoing movements is an everyday motor skill. For example, while walking in public you may stop yourself from waving at a stranger who you mistook for a friend while continuing to walk. Despite its ubiquity, our ability to selectively stop actions is limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMedicine (Baltimore)
November 2024
Liaocheng People's Hospital, Liaocheng, Shandong, China.
Rationale: Gong's brain acupuncture (GBA) is a acupuncture technique that restores the balance of the central nervous system by stimulating specific acupoints on the skull to transmit stimulation to the nerves. Insomnia during pregnancy is an increasingly concerning issue, and GBA provides new solutions.
Patients Concerns: The patient, a 26-year old woman at 26 + 1 weeks of pregnancy, presented with unexplained insomnia for 3 weeks.
Chin Med J (Engl)
January 2025
Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Beijing 100850, China.
Background: Neurological dysfunction is a common complication of traumatic brain injury (TBI), and early treatments are critical for the long-term prognosis. This study aimed to investigate whether hypidone hydrochloride (YL-0919) improves neurological function impairment in mice with TBI.
Methods: TBI was induced in adult male C57BL/6J mice using the controlled cortical impact (CCI) method.
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