Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Modulation of laser-evoked potentials and pain perception by transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS): a placebo-controlled study in healthy volunteers.
To investigate the effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) on brain nociceptive responses (laser-evoked potentials, LEPs) and pain perception. ⋯ This modulation of subjective and objective concomitants of pain processing reflects a real neurophysiological TENS-related effect on nociceptive transmission.
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Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) are non-invasive methods of brain stimulation (NIBS) that can induce significant effects on cortical and subcortical neural networks. Both methods are relatively safe if appropriate guidelines are followed, and both can exert neuromodulatory effects that may be applied to the investigation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). In addition, ANS measures can shed important light onto the neurobiologic mechanisms of NIBS. ⋯ We structure our findings into four broad (not mutually exclusive) categories: (i) studies in which ANS function was modified by NIBS versus those in which it was not; (ii) studies in which NIBS was used to understand ANS function, (iii) studies in which ANS was used to understand NIBS mechanisms and (iv) NIBS/ANS studies conducted in healthy subjects versus those in patients with neuropsychiatric diseases. Forty-four articles were identified and no conclusive evidence of the effects of NIBS on ANS was observed, mainly because of the heterogeneity of included studies. Based on a comprehensive summary of this literature we propose how NIBS might be further developed to enhance our understanding of the cortical mechanisms of autonomic regulation and perhaps to modulate autonomic activity for therapeutic purposes.
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Ultrasound measurements of the cross sectional area (CSA) variability have been recently introduced to quantify pathological changes in peripheral nerves (PN). ⋯ The new CSA variability measures may be helpful in investigating pathologies of the PN.
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Workers exposed to vibrating tools may develop hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). We assessed the somatosensory phenotype using quantitative sensory testing (QST) in comparison to electrophysiology to characterize (1) the most sensitive QST parameter for detecting sensory loss, (2) the correlation of QST and electrophysiology, and (3) the frequency of a carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in HAVS. ⋯ HAVS involves a neuropathy predominantly affecting large fibers with a sensory damage related to resonance frequencies of vibrating tools.
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This study aims to assess the prognostic value of acute postoperative seizures (APOS) in patients surgically treated for drug-resistant extra-temporal lobe (ET) epilepsy. ⋯ Caution may be required in the clinical management of patients experiencing APOS.