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Biomedical subjects

J T Zimmerman

Publications and source records attributed to J T Zimmerman.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Bipolar permanent magnets for the treatment of chronic low back pain: a pilot study.

CONTEXT: Chronic low back pain is one of the most prevalent and costly medical conditions in the United States. Permanent magnets have become a popular treatment for various musculoskeletal conditions, including low back pain, despite little scientific support for therapeutic benefit. OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of 1 type of therapeutic magnet, a bipolar permanent magnet, with a matching placebo device for patients with chronic low back pain. DESIGN: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover pilot study conducted from February 1998 to May 1999. SETTING: An ambulatory care physical medicine and rehabilitation clinic at a Veterans Affairs hospital. PATIENTS: Nineteen men and 1 woman with stable low back pain of a mean of 19 years' duration, with no past use of magnet therapy for low back pain. Twenty patients were determined to provide 80% power in the study at P<.05 to detect a difference of 2 points (the difference believed to be clinically significant) on a visual analog scale (VAS). INTERVENTIONS: For each patient, real and sham bipolar permanent magnets were applied, on alternate weeks, for 6 hours per day, 3 days per week for 1 week, with a 1-week washout period between the 2 treatment weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pretreatment and posttreatment pain intensity on a VAS; sensory and affective components of pain on the Pain Rating Index (PRI) of the McGill Pain Questionnaire; and range of motion (ROM) measurements of the lumbosacral spine, compared by real vs sham treatment. RESULTS: Mean VAS scores declined by 0.49 (SD, 0.96) points for real magnet treatment and by 0.44 (SD, 1.4) points for sham treatment (P = .90). No statistically significant differences were noted in the effect between real and sham magnets with any of the other outcome measures (ROM, P = .66; PRI, P = .55). CONCLUSIONS: Application of 1 variety of permanent magnet had no effect on our small group of subjects with chronic low back pain.

Chronic Disease↗
PubMed1981

Magnetic auditory evoked fields: interhemispheric asymmetry.

Magnetic auditory evoked fields (MAEFs) were recorded from the right (11 subjects) and the left (7 subjects) hemisphere following 128 click stimuli delivered to contralateral, ipsilateral and both (bilateral) ears. Right hemisphere MAEFs were of higher amplitude following contralateral, compared to ipsilateral, stimulation in 9 of 11 subjects; mean contralateral response amplitude was 135 +/- 33% (S.D) of ipsilateral response amplitude. Left hemisphere MAEFs were of higher amplitude following contralateral stimulation in 7 of 7 subjects; mean contralateral response amplitude was 145 +/- 44% of ipsilateral response amplitude. These observations are compatible with evidence that a majority of centripetal auditory input is crossed, and/or that contralateral auditory stimulation activates a larger area of cortex than does ipsilateral stimulation.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1981

Magnetic auditory evoked fields: dipole orientation.

Magnetic auditory evoked fields (MAEFs) were recorded from the left hemisphere of 7 normal human subjects in response to 512 binaural click stimuli. The instrument was a figure-eight SQUID gradiometer that measured the transverse gradient of the field perpendicular to the scalp. Its response to a current dipole source inside the head was a cosine function of the angular orientation of the gradiometer about an axis perpendicular to the scalp. Measurements were made at various orientations from which were derived the orientation of the equivalent dipole source. Our findings suggest that when considering total magnetic energy, current dipoles in the vicinity of the transverse gyri of Heschl, whose primary orientation are approximately perpendicular to the sylvian fissure, appear to be the major contributors to the magnetic fields produced by click stimuli.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Human magnetic auditory evoked fields.

Magnetoencephalographic (MEG) averaged auditory evoked fields to click stimuli (N = 512) were recorded from four human subjects. The MEG was recorded with an asymmetric second derivative SQUID gradiometer located in an aluminum shielded room. Unlike conventional EEG auditory evoked potentials, which have a widespread distribution, evoked magnetic fields appear to be localized to the general area of the primary auditory cortex and diminish rapidly in amplitude as the gradiometer is moved away in any direction.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1978

Spatially rearranged vision and REM sleep: a lack of effect.

An observation first made in our laboratory was responsible for focusing our attention upon an apparent increase in REM sleep in relation to altered visual experiences during the day. This finding was consistent with certain information-processing theories of REM sleep function and seemed to offer experimental support for them. Therefore, we proceeded to conduct a series of closely related experiments, designed to investigate further the possible REM-augmenting effects of spatially rearranged vision. Although our first two experiments seemed to support the original observation, subsequent, more carefully designed experiments, did not. The combined results from all of our experiments forced us to conclude that there is no consistent effect of distorted daytime vision on the amount or percentage of REM sleep. REM latency, or the number of rapid eye movements during REM periods. We suggest that future research on the topic employ experiments specifically designed to explore relationships between personality variables and a subject's REM sleep response to altered sensory input.

Adult↗