OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of a short-term dexterity-training program on muscle tremor and the performance of hand precision tasks in patients with essential tremor (ET). DESIGN Three testing sessions: baseline, after 4 weeks without any interventions (control), and after 4 weeks of dexterity-training carried out 3 times per week. SETTING Biomechanics research laboratory. PARTICIPAN...

BACKGROUND Intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) is a repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) protocol that influences cortical excitability and motor function recovery. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to investigate the effects of iTBS on manual dexterity and hand motor imagery in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. METHODS Thirty-six MS patients were non-randomly assigned into...

BACKGROUND Although cell therapy is a promising approach after cerebral cortex lesion, few studies assess quantitatively its behavioral gain in nonhuman primates. Furthermore, implantations of fetal grafts of exogenous stem cells are limited by safety and ethical issues. OBJECTIVE To test in nonhuman primates the transplantation of autologous adult neural progenitor cortical cells with assess...

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between manual dexterity and the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale-Motor Exam as a clinical tool for quantifying upper extremity function in persons with Parkinson's disease. [Subjects and Methods] Thirty-two persons with idiopathic Parkinson's disease participated in this study. This study measured two clinical outcome...

In the context of an autologous cell transplantation study, a unilateral biopsy of cortical tissue was surgically performed from the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) in two intact adult macaque monkeys (dlPFC lesioned group), together with the implantation of a chronic chamber providing access to the left motor cortex. Three other monkeys were subjected to the same chronic chamber i...