Down syndrome cell adherence molecule (DSCAM) contributes to the normal establishment and maintenance of neural circuits. Whereas there is abundant literature regarding the role of DSCAM in the neural patterning of the mammalian retina, less is known about motor circuits. Recently, DSCAM mutation has been shown to impair bilateral motor coordination during respiration, thus causing death at bir...

Pharmacological management of depressed patients has often relied upon the use of agents that are toxic when taken in large quantities. The recent introduction of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) has represented a major advance in the management of depression. While a 'serotonin syndrome' may develop if these drugs are taken in association with other agents, these drugs are belie...

Patients with chronic stroke often show increased flexor hypertonia in their affected upper limbs. Although an intervention strategy targeting the extensors of the affected upper limb might thus be expected to have benefits for functional recovery, conventional repetitive motor training has limited clinical utility. Recent studies have shown that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation cou...

Intrinsic optical signals (IOSs) induced by synaptic stimulation and moderate hypotonic swelling in brain tissue slices consist of reduced light scattering and are usually attributed to cell swelling. During spreading depression (SD), however, light-scattering increases even though SD has been shown to cause strong cell swelling. To understand this phenomenon, we recorded extracellular voltage,...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Studies in subjects with spastic hypertonia indicate that the higher resistance to stretch in the spastic muscles is not only due to hyperactive stretch reflexes but also to changes in the muscle-tendon unit (nonreflex components). The aim of this study was to compare the test-retest reliability of two methods: hand-held dynamometry and isokinetic dynamometry for the eval...

Case presentation: A 15-month-old girl evolved with fever and tremors associated ataxy after vaccination of hepatitis A, DTP, OPV y tetraviral. She was born via cesarean, uneventfully. Parents are consanguineous. Her mother had Specific Hypertensive Pregnancy Disease (SHPD) during pregnancy. No history previous hospitalizations, regular medications, allergies. Neuropsychomotor development (NPMD...