Longitudinal Imaging Biomarkers Correlate with Progressive Motor Deficit in the Mouse Model of Charlevoix-Saguenay Ataxia.

Objective: In autosomal recessive spastic ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay (ARSACS) disease, severity and age of onset vary greatly, hindering to objectively measure and predict clinical progression. Thickening of the retinal nerve fiber layer is distinctive of ARSACS patients, as assessed by optical coherence tomography, whereas conventional brain magnetic resonance imaging findings include both supratentorial and infratentorial changes. Because longitudinal imaging studies in ARSACS patients are not available to define these changes as biomarkers of disease progression, we aimed to address this issue in the ARSACS mouse model.

Intraoperative iatrogenic seizure induced by transcranial motor-evoked potential during spinal surgery: A case report and review of the literature.

Background: Intraoperative neuromonitoring is an essential tool for detecting early intraoperative neurological changes during spinal surgery. Only rarely do seizures occur during transcranial motor-evoked potentials (TcMEP).

Case Description: A 44-year-old male presented with a magnetic resonance (MR)--documented L5-S1 T2-hyperintense intradural mass that heterogeneously enhanced with Gadolinium and extended through the right S1 neural foramen.

Continuous theta burst stimulation at 30 hz does not modulate cortical excitability in a sham-controlled study.

Theta burst stimulation (TBS) can modulate cortical excitability but suffers from high inter-subject variability. Modified TBS frequency patterns (30 Hz) showed consistent inhibitory aftereffects, but further research into the time course of these effects is needed. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of a 30 Hz continuous TBS (cTBS) protocol.

Tennis experience impacts time estimation within different timing processes: An ERP study.

Elite tennis players demonstrate an outstanding ability to predict the timing of their shots during matches, especially during prolonged rallies. Exploring the characteristics of this temporal perception advantage and its cognitive processing mechanisms may help explain the influence of sports experience on temporal perception abilities. We recruited 28 tennis athletes and 28 controls with no sports experience and measured their behavioral performance and brain neural activity characteristics using a time-to-contact paradigm under different temporal context conditions.

Identification of anticipatory brain activity in a time discrimination task.

The purpose of this study was to investigate anticipatory functions in temporal cognition, identifying the presence of proactive brain processing specifically preceding a time discrimination task. To this aim, two discriminative response tasks (DRTs) were employed: a feature DRT and a temporal (T-DRT). While the F-DRT required discrimination among different geometrical shapes, the T-DRT required discrimination among different stimulus durations.

Measurement of voluntary activation of abdominal flexors using transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Background: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been used to assess voluntary activation (VA) of limb and back muscles, however its ability to assess abdominal muscle VA is unknown. The assessment of abdominal muscle VA using TMS could be applied to patients with trunk dysfunction to enable further understanding of the neurophysiology of trunk control, inform practice and enable the development and monitoring of rehabilitation programmes.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate use of TMS and the twitch interpolation technique to measure voluntary activation of abdominal muscles.

Circuits and mechanisms for TMS-induced corticospinal waves: Connecting sensitivity analysis to the network graph.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive, FDA-cleared treatment for neuropsychiatric disorders with broad potential for new applications, but the neural circuits that are engaged during TMS are still poorly understood. Recordings of neural activity from the corticospinal tract provide a direct readout of the response of motor cortex to TMS, and therefore a new opportunity to model neural circuit dynamics. The study goal was to use epidural recordings from the cervical spine of human subjects to develop a computational model of a motor cortical macrocolumn through which the mechanisms underlying the response to TMS, including direct and indirect waves, could be investigated.

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Coupled With Visual-Feedback Cycling Exercise Improves Walking Ability and Walking Stability After Stroke: A Randomized Pilot Study.

Stroke survivors exhibit persistent abnormal gait patterns, particularly in diminished walking ability and stability, limiting mobility and increasing the risk of falling. The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) coupled with cycling exercise on walking ability and stability in patients with stroke and explore the potential mechanisms underlying motor cortex recovery. In this double-blinded randomized pilot trial, 32 stroke patients were randomly separated into the real-rTMS group (RG, receiving rTMS during active cycling exercise) and the sham-rTMS group (SG, receiving sham rTMS during active cycling exercise).

Retrograde evoked compound action potentials as an alternative for close-loop spinal cord stimulation.

Evoked compound action potential (ECAP) is an important parameter in close-loop spinal cord stimulation (SCS). The recording electrode is typically positioned proximal to the stimulation electrode to capture the antegrade ECAP signals generated by ascending fibers. However, relatively little research has been conducted on retrograde ECAPs.

Sympathetic motor neuron dysfunction is a missing link in age-associated sympathetic overactivity.

Overactivity of the sympathetic nervous system is a hallmark of aging. The cellular mechanisms behind this overactivity remain poorly understood, with most attention paid to likely central nervous system components. In this work, we hypothesized that aging also affects the function of motor neurons in the peripheral sympathetic ganglia.

Intraoperative neuromonitoring and mapping during spinal cord untethering surgery; a single-centre paediatric neurosurgery unit experience.

Purpose: A review of intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) and mapping (IONMa) utility during paediatric tethered cord surgery with particular attention to feasibility, measures to prevent injury, and postoperative outcome.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of spinal cord untethering surgery between 2015 and 2022 was carried out. Cohort demographics, IONM and IONMa data, and procedural details were summarised and associations between variables explored.

Establishing Indicative Neurofilament Gradients Based on Severity of Spinal Cord Injury.

Introduction: Acute traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) results in a lifelong condition without any standardized biomarker or corresponding interventions. The objective of this study was to correlate changes in fluid biomarkers with the severity of SCI.

Methods: The test model used forces of 100 and 200 kdyn.

The effects of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) on cholinergic neural networks in humans: A neurophysiological study.

Objective: The mechanisms of actions of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) are still unclear, however the activity of the cholinergic system seems to be critical for the induction of VNS-mediated plasticity. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a well-suited, non-invasive tool to investigate cortical microcircuits involving different neurotransmitters. Herein, we evaluated the effect of taVNS on short-latency afferent inhibition (SAI), a TMS paradigm specifically measuring cholinergic neurotransmission.

The effect of the menstrual cycle on the vestibular system in healthy adult women.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of menstrual cycle phases on the vestibular system in healthy adult women.

Materials And Methods: A total of 40 healthy adult women aged 18-40 years without hearing or balance complaints were included in the study. The participants were administered the Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials (VEMP) test, the Video Head Impulse Test (vHIT), the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).

Exploring the activation of target words in adults who stutter with and without conscious intention to speak: ERP evidence.

Introduction: The primary aim was to determine whether the activation of target words unfolds differently in adults who stutter (AWS) versus typically-fluent adults (TFA) preparing to name pictures. A secondary aim was to explore the influence of conscious intention to speak on this process.

Method: 18 AWS and 18 TFA completed a picture naming task in which pictures - named at a delay - were followed by auditory probe words that were identical, or unrelated, to the target picture labels.

Persistent adaptations in sensorimotor interneuron circuits in the motor cortex with a history of sport-related concussion.

Recent studies highlight a persistent increase in subsequent injury risk following a sport-related concussion (SRC) despite clinical recovery. However, markers of persistent alterations in sensorimotor integration have yet to be identified. One possibility is that compensatory adaptation following SRC may only be unmasked during transient periods of high task complexity in specific sensorimotor circuits.

[Comparative analysis of audiovestibular testing results in vestibular schwannomas].

This study aimed to analyze the results of auditory and vestibular function tests in patients with unilateral vestibular schwannoma and explore their association with tumor size. Clinical data from 81 patients diagnosed with unilateral vestibular schwannoma who underwent pure-tone audiometry（PTA）, cervical and ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials（c/oVEMP）, as well as video head impulse test（vHIT）, and subsequently underwent surgical treatment, were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were categorized into groups based on tumor size: small （≤ 15 mm）, medium（16-30 mm）, and large （>30 mm）, determined by the maximum tumor diameter on contrast-enhanced MRI scans.

Subacute Upper Motor Neuron Dysfunction Possibly Associated with the Anti-GM1 Autoantibody: A Case Report.

Anti-GM1 antibodies are associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), primarily peripheral neuropathy. However, there are cases of anti-GM1 IgG antibody-positive GBS with upper motor neuron (UMN) signs. We herein report a case of gastrointestinal infection followed by subacute gait disturbance with predominant signs of UMN on a neurological examination.