Restorative neurology and neuroscience
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Restor. Neurol. Neurosci. · Jan 2013
Towards physiological ankle movements with the ActiGait implantable drop foot stimulator in chronic stroke.
Functional electrical stimulation represents an alternative to conventional and passive ankle foot orthosis (AFO) for the treatment of stroke-related drop foot. We evaluated the implantable 4-channel stimulator ActiGait, which selectively and directly stimulates the peroneal nerve. In addition, it bypasses the need for surface electrodes and cables. ⋯ The ActiGait system increased gait speed, walking endurance and the physiology of important ankle joint kinematics. This is most likely a result of ankle dorsiflexion by active peroneal stimulation during the swing phase of gait and optimized prepositioning (IA) of the foot at the beginning of stance phase. The ActiGait system represents a therapeutic option for the treatment of patients suffering drop foot due to a cerebrovascular insult.
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Restor. Neurol. Neurosci. · Jan 2013
Rescue of injured motoneurones by grafted neuroectodermal stem cells: effect of the location of graft.
Avulsion of one or more ventral roots from the spinal cord leads to the death of the majority of affected motoneurons. In this study we investigated whether immortalized clonal neuroectodermal stem cells applied to the injured cord in various ways impart neuroprotection on motoneurons otherwise destined to die. ⋯ This study provides evidence that neuroectodermal stem cell transplantation into the reimplanted ventral root induces as successful regeneration of injured motoneurons as stem cells grafted into the spinal cord.
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Restor. Neurol. Neurosci. · Jan 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialAnodal transcranial direct current stimulation in early rehabilitation of patients with post-stroke non-fluent aphasia: a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled pilot study.
Recent research in patients with chronic aphasia shows an association between excitatory anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (A-tDCS) of the stroke-affected left hemisphere coupled with speech and language therapy (SLT) and better language performance. The present study aimed to investigate this association during the early post-stroke rehabilitation period, when adaptive changes are most possible on neurophysiological and behavioral levels. ⋯ The findings provide only weak evidence for A-tDCS-related language gains during early neurorehabilitation of post-stroke aphasia. Further research is needed to explore the effectiveness of this kind of neuromodulation.
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Restor. Neurol. Neurosci. · Jan 2013
Combined bilateral anterior cingulotomy and ventral capsule/ventral striatum deep brain stimulation for refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder with major depression: do combined procedures have a long-term benefit?
The ventral capsule (VC), ventral striatum (VS), and the anterior cingulate gyrus are parts of the obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and depression circuits. We assessed whether a combination of bilateral anterior cingulotomy and VC/VS deep brain stimulation (DBS) had an additive effect in patients with OCD and major depression. ⋯ The combination of the two therapies did not yield superior outcomes, as the clinical outcomes were comparable to those of previous reports for VC/VS DBS alone. Wide-area VC/VS DBS may be sufficient to control refractory OCD.
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Restor. Neurol. Neurosci. · Jan 2013
Differential involvement of the left frontal and temporal regions in verb naming: a tDCS treatment study.
In aphasic patients, some studies have already emphasized the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) during the treatment of noun retrieval deficits. To date, in the same population, there are have been no studies addressing tDCS effects in the recovery of verb retrieval deficits. In this study, we wanted to test the potential of tDCS to improve verb production in a group of aphasic patients. ⋯ These findings further confirm that tDCS represents a useful new therapeutic interventions for the rehabilitation of lexical deficits in aphasic patients.