Individual responses to transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) are varied and therefore potentially limit its application. There is evidence that this variability is related to the contributions of Indirect waves (I-waves) recruited in the cortex. The latency of motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) can be measured through transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), allowing an individual's respo...

We used a juvenile mouse thalamocortical slice preparation with whole cell recording to investigate synaptic properties of corticothalamic inputs from somatosensory cortex to the ventral posterior medial and posterior medial nuclei (98 cells). We compared these data to those obtained from activating retinal and cortical inputs to the lateral geniculate nucleus (8 cells), the former representing...

Responses to pictures of famous tennis and soccer athletes are slower when the responding effector is a hand or foot, respectively, indicating that visual recognition of individuals characterized by skilled motor behavior interferes with the motor reactivity of nonproficient observers. By contrast, directly viewing actions induces motor facilitation, suggesting that actions are mapped in the ob...

In the crayfish opener neuromuscular preparation, regional differences in synaptic transmission are observed among the terminals of a single motoneuron. With a single stimulus, the high-output terminals of the proximal region of the muscle produce a larger excitatory postsynaptic potential than do the low-output terminals of the central region of the muscle. We tested the hypothesis that the lo...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE A transient ischemic attack (TIA) is a brief ischemic episode characterized by rapid clinical resolution and not associated with permanent cerebral infarction. Whether changes in intracortical excitability persist and are related to clinical predictors of stroke risk after TIA remains unknown. METHODS Participants were individuals with clinically resolved motor TIA with...

OBJECTIVE Paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (ppTMS) is used to probe inhibitory and excitatory networks within the primary motor cortex (M1). These mechanisms are identified for limb muscles but it is unclear whether they share properties with trunk muscles. The aim was to determine whether it was possible to test the intracortical inhibition and facilitation of the deep multifidus...

Perception of the final position of a moving object or creature is distorted forward along its actual or implied motion path, thus enabling anticipation of its forthcoming position. In a previous research, we demonstrated that viewing static snapshots that imply body actions activates the human motor system. What remains unknown, however, is whether extrapolation of dynamic information and moto...

OBJECTIVE We aimed at detecting neurophysiological changes, in the primary motor tongue representation in adults with persistent stuttering. METHODS Using transcranial magnetic stimulation in 12 patients and 14 controls, we examined motor threshold, motor-evoked potential (MEP) input-output curve, short-term intracortical inhibition (SICI) and intracortical facilitation (ICF), based on eight ...

We demonstrate that in the macaque monkey there is robust, short-latency facilitation by ventral premotor cortex (area F5) of motor outputs from primary motor cortex (M1) to contralateral intrinsic hand muscles. Experiments were carried out on two adult macaques under light sedation (ketamine plus medetomidine HCl). Facilitation of hand muscle electromyograms (EMG) was tested using arrays of fi...

Long-term facilitation (LTF) of Aplysia tail sensory neuron-motor neuron (SN-MN) synapses provides a synaptic correlate of memory for long-term behavioral sensitization of the tail-siphon withdrawal reflex. LTF can be induced by repeated exposures of serotonin (5HT) in the isolated pleural-pedal ganglion preparation. In addition, we have shown previously (Sherff and Carew, 1999) that LTF can al...