AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To provide an overview of available sensory stimulation interventions, and their effect on persons with dementia and to present theoretical and methodological characteristics of the studies included. BACKGROUND Different sensory stimulation interventions are used for persons with dementia to increase alertness, reduce agitation and improve quality of life. However, the eff...

to reduce stimulation to a minimum or to achieve "optimal" states of stimulation. The author's contention is that there is a drive for optimal levels of stimulation that leads organisms to avoid states where sensory variation is either too high or too low. This "sensoristatic drive" is a state of cortical arousal that is monitored by the reticular formation which serves as a regulator adjusting...

Sleep deprivation-induced deficiencies in performance can be associated with high financial and human costs. Napping is an effective countermeasure, but the effects depend on previously accumulated sleep debt and timing, duration and sleep architecture of the naps. Long-term assessment of sleep architecture of nap/sleep episodes could yield an estimate of the accumulated sleep debt and help opt...

Baroreceptor activity has been implicated in the modulation of pain. Sensory detection thresholds and pain ratings were measured in a group of 28 men during carotid baroreceptor manipulation with the PRES (phase-related external suction) neck suction technique. Brief, cardiac phase-related electrical impulses were delivered intracutaneously to the finger. The results indicate that minimum baror...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE In the undamaged brain, sensory input to the cortex is intricately controlled via sensory gating mechanisms. Given the role of corticothalamic pathways in this control, it was hypothesized that in patients recovering from thalamic stroke there would be evidence of disrupted sensory gating and that efficient control of cortical sensory inputs would emerge during recovery. ...

BACKGROUND Improvement in sensory detection thresholds was found to be associated with neuropathic pain relief produced by epidural motor cortex stimulation with surgically implanted electrodes. OBJECTIVE To determine the ability of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the motor cortex to produce similar sensory changes. METHODS In 46 patients with chronic neuropathic pain...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate lip sensory dysfunction in patients with inferior alveolar nerve injury by lip-stimulated somatosensory evoked fields (SEFs). METHODS SEFs were recorded following electrical lip stimulation in 6 patients with unilateral lip sensory disturbance and 10 healthy volunteers. Lip stimulation was applied non-invasively to each side of the lip with the same intensity using pin e...