Noninvasive Brain Stimulation for Motor Recovery After Stroke: Mechanisms and Future Views.
Noninvasive Brain Stimulation for Motor Recovery after Stroke: Mechanisms and Future Views.
Filed under: Rehab Centers
Stroke Res Treat. 2012; 2012: 584727
Takeuchi N, Izumi SI
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation are noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques that can alter excitability of the human cortex. Considering the interhemispheric competition occurring after stroke, improvement in motor deficits can be achieved by increasing the excitability of the affected hemisphere or decreasing the excitability of the unaffected hemisphere. Many reports have shown that NIBS application improves motor function in stroke patients by using their physiological peculiarity. For continuous motor improvement, it is important to impart additional motor training while NIBS modulates the neural network between both hemispheres and remodels the disturbed network in the affected hemisphere. NIBS can be an adjuvant therapy for developed neurorehabilitation strategies for stroke patients. Moreover, recent studies have reported that bilateral NIBS can more effectively facilitate neural plasticity and induce motor recovery after stroke. However, the best NIBS pattern has not been established, and clinicians should select the type of NIBS by considering the NIBS mechanism. Here, we review the underlying mechanisms and future views of NIBS therapy and propose rehabilitation approaches for appropriate cortical reorganization.
HubMed – rehab
Left-Deviating Prism Adaptation in Left Neglect Patient: Reflexions on a Negative Result.
Filed under: Rehab Centers
Neural Plast. 2012; 2012: 718604
Luauté J, Jacquin-Courtois S, O’Shea J, Christophe L, Rode G, Boisson D, Rossetti Y
Adaptation to right-deviating prisms is a promising intervention for the rehabilitation of patients with left spatial neglect. In order to test the lateral specificity of prism adaptation on left neglect, the present study evaluated the effect of left-deviating prism on straight-ahead pointing movements and on several classical neuropsychological tests in a group of five right brain-damaged patients with left spatial neglect. A group of healthy subjects was also included for comparison purposes. After a single session of exposing simple manual pointing to left-deviating prisms, contrary to healthy controls, none of the patients showed a reliable change of the straight-ahead pointing movement in the dark. No significant modification of attentional paper-and-pencil tasks was either observed immediately or 2 hours after prism adaptation. These results suggest that the therapeutic effect of prism adaptation on left spatial neglect relies on a specific lateralized mechanism. Evidence for a directional effect for prism adaptation both in terms of the side of the visuomanual adaptation and therefore possibly in terms of the side of brain affected by the stimulation is discussed.
HubMed – rehab
A tale of two soles: sociomechanical and biomechanical considerations in diabetic limb salvage and amputation decision-making in the worst of times.
Filed under: Rehab Centers
Diabet Foot Ankle. 2012; 3:
Fiorito J, Trinidad-Hernadez M, Leykum B, Smith D, Mills JL, Armstrong DG
Foot ulcerations complicated by infection are the major cause of limb loss in people with diabetes. This is especially true in those patients with severe sepsis. Determining whether to amputate or attempt to salvage a limb often requires in depth evaluation of each individual patient’s physical, mental, and socioeconomic status. The current report presents and juxtaposes two similar patients, admitted to the same service at the same time with severe diabetic foot infections complicated by sepsis. We describe in detail the similarities and differences in the clinical presentation, extent of infection, etiology, and socioeconomic concerns that ultimately led to divergent clinical decisions regarding the choices of attempting diabetic limb salvage versus primary amputation and prompt rehabilitation.
HubMed – rehab
Real-Time Changes in Corticospinal Excitability during Voluntary Contraction with Concurrent Electrical Stimulation.
Filed under: Rehab Centers
PLoS One. 2012; 7(9): e46122
Yamaguchi T, Sugawara K, Tanaka S, Yoshida N, Saito K, Tanabe S, Muraoka Y, Liu M
While previous studies have assessed changes in corticospinal excitability following voluntary contraction coupled with electrical stimulation (ES), we sought to examine, for the first time in the field, real-time changes in corticospinal excitability. We monitored motor evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation and recorded the MEPs using a mechanomyogram, which is less susceptible to electrical artifacts. We assessed the MEPs at each level of muscle contraction of wrist flexion (0%, 5%, or 20% of maximum voluntary contraction) during voluntary wrist flexion (flexor carpi radialis (FCR) voluntary contraction), either with or without simultaneous low-frequency (10 Hz) ES of the median nerve that innervates the FCR. The stimulus intensity corresponded to 1.2× perception threshold. In the FCR, voluntary contraction with median nerve stimulation significantly increased corticospinal excitability compared with FCR voluntary contraction without median nerve stimulation (p<0.01). In addition, corticospinal excitability was significantly modulated by the level of FCR voluntary contraction. In contrast, in the extensor carpi radialis (ECR), FCR voluntary contraction with median nerve stimulation significantly decreased corticospinal excitability compared with FCR voluntary contraction without median nerve stimulation (p<0.05). Thus, median nerve stimulation during FCR voluntary contraction induces reciprocal changes in cortical excitability in agonist and antagonist muscles. Finally we also showed that even mental imagery of FCR voluntary contraction with median nerve stimulation induced the same reciprocal changes in cortical excitability in agonist and antagonist muscles. Our results support the use of voluntary contraction coupled with ES in neurorehabilitation therapy for patients. HubMed – rehab
Cure or Cult? Junkies in ‘religious rehab’ seen as sect – Religious rehab centers are on the rise in Russia, offering non-traditional aid to drug addicts in the country. But critics argue such centers are no more than sects, and that addicts trade one crutch for another there.
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