Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology
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This study concerned sensory processing (post-stimulus late evoked potential components) in different parts of the human brain as related to a motor task (hand movement) in a cognitive paradigm (Contingent Negative Variation). The focus of the study was on the time and space distribution of middle and late post-stimulus evoked potential (EP) components, and on the processing of sensory information in the subcortical-cortical networks. ⋯ The SM1, the SMA, multiple sites of the frontal lobe, some parts of the temporal lobe, the cingulate gyrus, the basal ganglia, the insula, and the posterior thalamus all participate in a cortico-subcortical network that is important for the parallel cognitive processing of sensory information in a movement related task.
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A substantial number of sarcoidosis patients report apparently non-specific symptoms such as pain, for which no organic substrate has yet been found. Recently we observed symptoms suggestive of small-fibre neuropathy in a group of sarcoidosis patients. The aim of the present study was to verify this observation using various electrophysiological tests. ⋯ In a subgroup of sarcoidosis patients we found TTT abnormalities suggestive of small-fibre neuropathy. SSR and cardiovascular autonomic testing appeared to be of little diagnostic value. Small-fibre neuropathy may be the cause of a number of hitherto unexplained symptoms in sarcoidosis.
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To establish whether there is a first night effect (FNE) in children and adolescents with suspected obstructive sleep apnoea undergoing polysomnography (PSG) and whether this affects sleep and breathing, furthermore, to determine the extent to which age may influence the sleep and cardiorespiratory parameters. ⋯ In children and adolescents, there is an FNE comparable with that described in adults. In OSAS children and also in children with no PSG-abnormalities, there is night-to-night-variability in sleep parameters, but not in respiratory parameters. An adaptation night is, therefore, necessary when sleep architecture is to be studied, but not when only the nocturnal respiratory pattern is investigated. Sleep parameters, HR and arousal indices are all age-dependent.
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Comparative Study
Short-term plastic changes of the human nociceptive system following acute pain induced by capsaicin.
To investigate possible neuroplastic changes induced by pain in cerebral areas devoted to nociceptive input processing. ⋯ Our results suggest that acute cutaneous pain may inhibit the neural activity in regions of central nervous system processing nociceptive inputs and cortical representation of these inputs can be rapidly modified in presence of acute pain.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Effects of TMJ anesthesia and jaw gape on jaw-stretch reflexes in humans.
To study the roles of afferent sensory inputs in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and of muscle length in the modulation of the jaw-stretch reflex in humans. ⋯ Blocking the afferent sensory input (including the mechanoreceptors) from the TMJ seems to have no influence on the sensitivity of the human jaw-stretch reflex. Instead, muscle spindles are the most likely receptors to be responsible for the reflex modulation that was observed in the present study.