With this new procedure we found that only flashes, but not averted eye-gazes, induced
an illusory shift in sound location. This difference between flashes and eye-gazes was validated in an EEG study in which again only flashes illusorily shifted the apparent location of a sound thereby evoking a mismatch negativity response. These results are important because they highlight that commonly used measures of multisensory illusions are contaminated while there is an easy yet stringent way to measure the strength of an illusion in a bias-free way. “
“The present study aims to investigate the potential of brief electrical stimulation (ES; 3 V, 20 Hz, 20 min) in improving functional recovery in delayed nerve injury repair (DNIR). The sciatic
nerve of Sprague Dawley rats was transected, and the repair of nerve injury was delayed for different time durations (2, 4, 12 and 24 weeks). Brief depolarizing ES was applied to the proximal nerve stump when IDH inhibitor the transected nerve stumps were bridged with a hollow nerve conduit (5 mm in length) after delayed periods. We found that the diameter and number of regenerated axons, the thickness of myelin sheath, as well as the number of Fluoro-Gold retrograde-labeled motoneurons and sensory neurons were significantly increased by ES, suggesting that brief ES to proximal nerve stumps is capable of promoting nerve regeneration in DNIR with different delayed durations, with the longest duration of 24 weeks. In addition, the amplitude of compound muscle action potential (gastrocnemius muscle) and nerve conduction velocity were also enhanced, and gastrocnemius muscle atrophy Sirolimus cost was partially reversed by brief ES, indicating that brief ES to proximal PtdIns(3,4)P2 nerve stump was able to improve functional recovery in DNIR. Furthermore, brief ES was capable of increasing brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in the spinal cord in DNIR, suggesting that BDNF-mediated neurotrophin signaling might be one of the contributing factors to the beneficial effect of brief ES on DNIR. In conclusion, the present findings indicate the potential of using brief ES as a useful method to improve functional
recovery for delayed repair of peripheral nerve lesions. “
“In this study we investigated in healthy subjects whether continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) over the lateral cerebellum alters motor practice and retention phases during ipsilateral index finger and arm reaching movements. In 12 healthy subjects we delivered cTBS before repeated index finger abductions or arm reaching movements differing in complexity (reaching-to-grasp and reaching-to-point). We evaluated kinematic variables for index finger and arm reaching movements and changes in primary motor cortex (M1) activity tested with transcranial magnetic stimulation. Peak acceleration increased during motor practice for index finger abductions and reaching-to-grasp movements and persisted during motor retention.