Articles: learning-physiology.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Increased functional connectivity one week after motor learning and tDCS in stroke patients.
Recent studies using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) demonstrated that changes in functional connectivity (FC) after stroke correlate with recovery. The aim of this study was to explore whether combining motor learning to dual transcranial direct current stimulation (dual-tDCS, applied over both primary motor cortices (M1)) modulated FC in stroke patients. Twenty-two chronic hemiparetic stroke patients participated in a baseline rs-fMRI session. ⋯ At baseline and one week after sham, the strongest FC was observed between the M1 and dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) of the undamaged hemisphere. In contrast, one week after dual-tDCS, the strongest FC was found between the M1 and PMd of the damaged hemisphere. Thus, a single session of dual-tDCS combined with motor skill learning increases FC in the somatomotor network of chronic stroke patients for one week.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Short-term immobilization influences use-dependent cortical plasticity and fine motor performance.
Short-term immobilization that reduces muscle use for 8-10h is known to influence cortical excitability and motor performance. However, the mechanisms through which this is achieved, and whether these changes can be used to modify cortical plasticity and motor skill learning, are not known. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of short-term immobilization on use-dependent cortical plasticity, motor learning and retention. ⋯ Furthermore, training-related MEP facilitation was greater after, compared with before, immobilization. These results indicate that immobilization can modulate use-dependent plasticity and the retention of motor skills. They also suggest that changes in intracortical excitability are unlikely to contribute to the immobilization-induced modification of cortical excitability.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The effect of local versus remote experimental pain on motor learning and sensorimotor integration using a complex typing task.
Recent work demonstrated that capsaicin-induced acute pain improved motor learning performance; however, baseline accuracy was very high, making it impossible to discern the impact of acute pain on motor learning and retention. In addition, the effects of the spatial location of capsaicin application were not explored. Two experiments were conducted to determine the interactive effects of acute pain vs control (experiment 1) and local vs remote acute pain (experiment 2) on motor learning and sensorimotor processing. ⋯ Experiment 2: The P25 SEP peak decreased in the local group after application of capsaicin cream (P < 0.01), whereas the N30 SEP peaks increased after motor learning in both groups (P < 0.05). Accuracy improved in the local group at retention (P < 0.005), and response time improved after motor learning (P < 0.005) and at retention (P < 0.001). This study suggests that acute pain may increase focal attention to the body part used in motor learning, contributing to our understanding of how the location of pain impacts somatosensory processing and the associated motor learning.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The Effect of the Type and Colour of Placebo Stimuli on Placebo Effects Induced by Observational Learning.
Research shows that placebo analgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia can be induced through observational learning. Our aim was to replicate and extend these results by studying the influence of the type and colour of stimuli used as placebos on the placebo effects induced by observational learning. Three experimental and two control groups were tested. ⋯ As a result participants in the experimental groups rated pain stimuli preceded by either green lights (green placebo group), red lights (red placebo group), or circles (circle placebo group) as being less painful than the participants in the control groups did, indicating that placebo effect was induced. No statistically significant differences were found in the magnitudes of the placebo effects between the three experimental groups (green placebo, red placebo, and circle placebo groups), indicating that neither the type nor the colour of placebo stimuli affected the placebo effects induced by observational learning. The placebo effects induced by observational learning were found to be unrelated to the individual differences in pain anxiety, fear of pain, and empathy.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Neural mechanisms of brain plasticity with complex cognitive training in healthy seniors.
Complex mental activity induces improvements in cognition, brain function, and structure in animals and young adults. It is not clear to what extent the aging brain is capable of such plasticity. This study expands previous evidence of generalized cognitive gains after mental training in healthy seniors. ⋯ Improvements in cognition were identified along with significant CBF correlates of the cognitive gains. We propose that cognitive training enhances resting-state neural activity and connectivity, increasing the blood supply to these regions via neurovascular coupling. These convergent results provide preliminary evidence that neural plasticity can be harnessed to mitigate brain losses with cognitive training in seniors.