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PubMed1998

Task-dependent reduction of the number of degrees of freedom in sensorimotor systems.

In this paper we present a concise review of experiments on sensorimotor performance in man from the perspective of new opportunities provided by research in microgravity, which will contribute to our basic understanding of sensorimotor processes. In particular, we will discuss some new results on strategies for dealing with the large number of degrees of freedom in biological limbs with special emphasis on human motor control and on the specific role for mono- and bi-articular muscles. Finally, we propose some ideas for future experiments on motor function in microgravity, which will reveal new basic knowledge about the role of the CNS in motor control and which will contribute to a better performance of man in sensorimotor tasks in microgravity conditions.

Extremities↗
PubMed2002

The pyramidal cell of the sensorimotor cortex of the macaque monkey: phenotypic variation.

Recent studies have revealed striking differences in pyramidal cell structure among cortical regions involved in the processing of different functional modalities. For example, cells involved in visual processing show systematic variation, increasing in morphological complexity with rostral progression from V1 through extrastriate areas. Differences have also been identified between pyramidal cells in somatosensory, motor and prefrontal cortex, but the extent to which the pyramidal cell phenotype may vary between these functionally related cortical regions remains unknown. In the present study we investigated the structure of layer III pyramidal cells in somatosensory and motor areas 3b, 4, 5, 6 and 7b of the macaque monkey. Cells were intracellularly injected in fixed, flat-mounted cortical slices and analysed for morphometric parameters. The size of the basal dendritic arbours, the number of their branches and their spine density were found to vary systematically between areas. Namely, we found a trend for increasing complexity in dendritic arbour structure through areas 3b, 5 and 7b. A similar trend occurred through areas 4 and 6. The differences in arbour structure may determine the number of inputs received by neurons and may thus be an important factor in determining function at the cellular and systems level.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Sensorimotor integration in S2, PV, and parietal rostroventral areas of the human sylvian fissure.

We explored cortical fields on the upper bank of the Sylvian fissure using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) to measure responses to two stimulus conditions: a tactile stimulus applied to the right hand and a tactile stimulus with an additional movement component. fMRI data revealed bilateral activation in S2/PV in response to tactile stimulation alone and source localization of MEG data identified a peak latency of 122 ms in a similar location. During the tactile and movement condition, fMRI revealed bilateral activation of S2/PV and an anterior field, while MEG data contained one source at a location identical to the tactile-only condition with a latency of 96 ms and a second rostral source with a longer latency (136 ms). Furthermore, Region-of-interest analysis of fMRI data identified increased bilateral activation in S2/PV and the rostral area in the tactile and movement condition compared with the tactile only condition. An area of cortex immediately rostral to S2/PV in monkeys has been called the parietal rostroventral area (PR). Based on location, latency, and conditions under which this field was active, we have termed the rostral area of human cortex PR as well. These findings indicate that humans, like non-human primates, have a cortical field rostral to PV that processes proprioceptive inputs, both S2/PV and PR play a role in somatomotor integration necessary for manual exploration and object discrimination, and there is a temporal hierarchy of processing with S2/PV active prior to PR.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Development of functional topography in the corticorubral projection: An in vivo assessment using synaptic potentials recorded from fetal and newborn cats.

In mammals, topographic maps emerge from initially diffuse projections during development. To gain insight into the mechanisms governing the transition from a diffuse projection to a topographic map, we studied topographic specificity of functional connections during development, using the cat corticorubral system as a model. In the adult cat, rubrospinal neurons in the dorsomedial part of the red nucleus (RN) receive input primarily from the forelimb area of the sensorimotor cortex, whereas those in the ventrolateral part receive input primarily from the hindlimb area. During development, axons from the sensorimotor cortex arrive in the RN at embryonic day 50 (E50) (Song et al., 1995a) and are diffusely distributed in the RN until postnatal day 13 (P13) (Higashi et al., 1990). Here, we studied the development of the pattern of functional cortical inputs to individual rubrospinal neurons, using synaptic potentials recorded in vivo. The functional topography in each rubrospinal neuron in developing cats was examined and classified either as adult-like or nonadult-like by comparison with the adult pattern. In preterm kittens from E61 to E65, only about half of the recorded neurons (41%; n = 22) showed adult-like functional topography. This percentage, however, increased to 82% (n = 56) in P1-P8 kittens and to 93% (n = 42) in P13-P28 kittens. These results, in conjunction with the above mentioned anatomical observations, suggest that corticorubral axons make functional synapses nonselectively with rubrospinal neurons before birth. Furthermore, the functional topographic map developed earlier than the anatomical map ( P13), suggesting that there is a developmental step of selective promotion of synapse formation and/or selective enhancement of synaptic efficacy in topographically appropriate regions in the RN, before the emergence of the mature anatomical map.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1995

Tests for distributed, nonfocal brain activations.

Most approaches to detecting changes in functional brain images assume that activations are focal or very localized. However, the brain's response to cognitive of sensorimotor challenge may be spatially or anatomically distributed. In this paper we consider the usefulness of a test based on the mean sum of squares of statistical parametric maps. The performance of this test is evaluated using simulated and real data and is compared to the gamma 2 test, a test of the size of the activated region, and a focal activation test based on the intensity of local maxima. We demonstrate that the mean sum of squares test is more sensitive to nonfocal signals and propose that it could be used to complement approaches that are more sensitive to focal activations.

Arousal↗
PubMed2005

Reorganization of cerebral circuits in human brain lesion.

Recovery after focal brain lesions is supposed to be mediated by cerebral reorganization. Stroke is a powerful model to study these processes in the human brain, since middle cerebral artery infarction is a common neurological disease with a clearly defined onset of a lateralized sensorimotor deficit syndrome. Brain tumours constitute a further model differing from stroke by their slow lesion dynamics. Evidence from functional neuroimaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation will be presented showing that recovery of hand function is related to reorganization of local perilesional and large-scale circuits involving the contralesional hemisphere.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed1999

Largely segregated parietofrontal connections linking rostral intraparietal cortex (areas AIP and VIP) and the ventral premotor cortex (areas F5 and F4).

Two functionally different cortical areas are located in the rostral part of the intraparietal sulcus (IP): the ventral intraparietal area (VIP), along the fundus of the sulcus, and the anterior intraparietal area (AIP), rostral in the lateral bank. VIP and AIP have functional properties comparable to those of the ventral premotor areas, F4 and F5, respectively. The aim of this study was to establish whether these intraparietal and premotor areas have direct and specific anatomical connections. Neural tracers were injected in F4, F5, and AIP in three macaque monkeys. The results showed that F4 and F5 are targets of strong projections from VIP and AIP, respectively, and that the linkage between F5 and AIP is highly selective. These data support the notion that parietofrontal connections selectively link areas displaying similar functional properties and form largely segregated anatomical circuits. Each of these circuits is possibly dedicated to specific aspects of sensorimotor transformations. In particular, the AIP-F5 circuit should play a crucial role in visuomotor transformation for grasping, the VIP-F4 circuit is possibly involved in peripersonal space coding for movement.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cerebellar norepinephrine infusions facilitate recovery after sensorimotor cortex injury.

This study reports the effects of norepinephrine infusions into cerebellum after unilateral sensorimotor cortex injury. The results demonstrate an immediate and permanent acceleration in motor recovery in awake rats infused with 150 micrograms norepinephrine into the cerebellum contralateral to a right sensorimotor cortex ablation. A vehicle infusion or infusion of norepinephrine into the ipsilateral cerebellum produced no beneficial effects on functional recovery.

Anesthesia↗
PubMedDate not supplied

LY354740: a metabotropic glutamate receptor agonist which ameliorates symptoms of nicotine withdrawal in rats.

LY354740 is a conformationally constrained analog of glutamate with high selectivity and nanomolar agonist activity at Group II metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs). This orally active compound is a new drug candidate which is being developed for the treatment of anxiety. In this study, LY354740 was investigated in a model of nicotine withdrawal using the acoustic startle reflex (sensorimotor reactivity) in rats. Nicotine (6 mg/kg/day) was administered for 12 days subcutaneously by osmotic minipumps. After 12 days the pumps were removed and the animals were allowed to go through spontaneous withdrawal. Cessation of chronic nicotine exposure led to increased startle responding for 4 days following withdrawal. Treatment with LY354740 (0.0001-0.1 mg/kg, i.p.; 0.03-3 mg/kg, oral) produced a dose-dependent attenuation of the enhanced auditory startle responding following withdrawal of nicotine with intraperitoneal and oral ED50 values of 0.003 mg/kg and 0.7 mg/kg, respectively. These effects were stereoselective since the (-)-enantiomer of LY354740, LY366563, was without effect in this model. LY354740 produced no changes in the sensorimotor reactivity of rats not exposed to nicotine at oral doses up to 10 mg/kg. These data support the functional role of mGluR agonists in nicotine withdrawal and indicate that LY354740 may be efficacious in reducing the symptoms associated with nicotine withdrawal during smoking cessation in humans.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Classical conditioning of eyelid and mystacial vibrissae responses in conscious mice.

The murine vibrissae sensorimotor system has been scrutinized as a target of motor learning through trace classical conditioning. Conditioned eyelid responses were acquired by using weak electrical whisker-pad stimulation as conditioned stimulus (CS) and strong electrical periorbital stimulation as unconditioned stimulus (US). In addition, conditioned vibrissal protraction was obtained pairing either weak electrical whisker-pad stimulation or a tone as CS, with a strong electric shock delivered in the whisker-pad as US. This finding suggests that evolutionary pressure has selected a sensorimotor system capable of constructing conditioned responses on the basis of temporal relationships of stimuli, independently of any putative functional purpose.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2005

Facilitation of sensory and motor recovery by thermal intervention for the hemiplegic upper limb in acute stroke patients: a single-blind randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Thermal stimulation (TS) is commonly used in orthopedic rehabilitation, but the role of TS in the facilitation of sensorimotor recovery in hemiplegic patients remains unknown. This study addressed the issue of TS intervention in the facilitation of functional outcomes. METHODS: Forty-six stroke survivors were randomly assigned to standard rehabilitation treatment and standard treatment plus TS (30 minutes daily for 6 weeks). Twenty-nine patients completed the experiment. Six measures, including Brunnstrom stage, modified motor assessment scale, grasping strength, angles of wrist extension and flexion, sensation by monofilament, and muscle tone by modified Ashworth scale, were performed weekly to evaluate sensory and motor functional outcomes. RESULTS: The performance of Brunnstrom stage and wrist extension and sensation were improved significantly after TS intervention. Recovery rates of 6 measures after TS were significantly higher than those of the control, except for grasping. Similar muscle tones were found in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: TS on the paretic hand significantly enhances the recovery of several aspects of sensory and motor functions in hemiplegic stroke patients.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2003

[Transcranial magnetic stimulation].

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) allows non-invasive study and modulation of cortical excitability in humans. Changes in cortical excitability in physiological and pathological conditions can be tracked by measurements such as motor threshold, motor evoked potentials, recruitment curves, intracortical facilitation and inhibition. The central motor conduction time can estimate neural transmission in central motor pathways. Changes in areas of representation in sensorimotor cortex can be studied with cortical mapping. Modulation of cortical processing can be used to evaluate different brain functions. Therapeutic use in depression, Parkinson's disease and epilepsy has raised great interest over the past decade. Non-invasive cortical mapping may be achieved by combining TMS to other neurophysiological/ neuroimaging techniques. TMS has great potential both as an investigational and as a therapeutical tool in Neurology and Psychiatry.

Brain Diseases↗
PubMed2004

Fluoro-Jade and TUNEL staining as useful tools to identify ischemic brain damage following moderate extradural compression of sensorimotor cortex.

Cerebral ischemia was produced by moderate compression for 30 min of a specific brain area in the sensorimotor cortex of Sprague-Dawley rats. On day 1, that is 24 h after the transient sensorimotor compression, ischemia-exposed animals displayed a marked focal neurological deficit documented as impaired beam walking performance. This functional disturbance was mainly due to contralateral fore- and hind-limb paresis. As assessed by daily beam walking tests it was shown that there was a spontaneous recovery of motor functions over a period of five to seven days after the ischemic event. Using histopathological analysis (Nissl staining) we have previously reported that the present experimental paradigm does not produce pannecrosis (tissue cavitation) despite the highly reproducible focal neurological deficit. We now show how staining with fluorescent markers for neuronal death, that is Fluoro-Jade and TUNEL, respectively, identifies regional patterns of selective neuronal death. These observations add further support to the working hypothesis that the brain damage caused by cortical compression-induced ischemia consists of scattered, degenerating neurons in specific brain regions. Postsurgical administration of the AMPA receptor specific antagonist, LY326325 (30 mg/kg; i.p., 70 min after compression), not only improved beam walking performance on day 1 to 3, respectively but also significantly reduced the number of Fluoro-Jade stained neurons on day 5. These results suggest that enhanced AMPA/glutamate receptor activity is at least partially responsible for the ischemia-produced brain damage detected by the fluorescent marker Fluoro-Jade.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Ethosuximide and bicuculline inhibition in petit mal epilepsy.

The mechanisms of petit mal epilepsy remain a mystery despite successful therapy. Previous workers have proposed that paroxysmal activity of cortical inhibitory systems plays a role in absence seizures. In this study, we have compared the effects of bicuculline, a potent convulsive agent and GABA antagonist, with ethosuximide, a drug used to treat petit mal epilepsy, on the thalamocortical motor system of the cat. Under chloralose anesthesia, sequential pairs of pulses were delivered to ventrolateral thalamus (VL) varying either pulse amplitude or interval. The evoked responses were recorded from sensorimotor cortex, analyzed on-line by computer, and plotted as an excitability curve (mean response amplitude as a function of pulse interval), or a family of threshold curves (mean response amplitude as a function of stimulus amplitude at various fixed intervals). Administration of each drug resulted in increased thalamocortical excitability and decreased threshold to stimulation for short pulse-pair intervals, with diminished duration of the excitability curve. Increased alertness was produced by both drugs. Studies with grand mal anticonvulsants demonstrated entirely different effects. Because GABA is thought to be the primary inhibitory transmitter in VL and cerebral cortex, bicuculline would be expected to result in disinhibition. The similarity of the data for ethosuximide suggests that ethosuximide also suppresses inhibition in the thalamocortical motor system and adds further to the accumulating evidence of the role of inhibitory system in petit mal epilepsy.

Animals↗
PubMed2026

Proprioception Training and Surrogate Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Definitions, Measures, and Effectiveness Claims.

BACKGROUND: "Proprioception training" is widely advocated in rehabilitation and sports practice, yet the term encompasses heterogeneous constructs, interventions, and outcomes. Many trials infer proprioceptive benefits from surrogate outcomes (balance, strength, or pain) rather than direct psychophysical indices. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to examine how proprioception is defined and measured, and how improvement is claimed, in randomized controlled trials. METHODS: Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched to October 2025. Eligible randomized controlled trials explicitly described interventions as "proprioceptive" or "sensorimotor training" and reported at least one proprioceptive outcome, either direct (e.g., joint position reproduction, threshold to detection of passive motion, active movement extent discrimination) or indirect (e.g., sway, balance). Methodological quality was appraised with the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale and risk of bias using the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 (RoB 2) tool. RESULTS: Fifty-one randomized controlled trials (n = 2319) were included. Comparative synthesis showed that improvements inferred from surrogate outcomes were more frequent and often larger than improvements observed in direct psychophysical measures. Directly targeted practice, angle specific, attentionally demanding, and aligned with the measured proprioceptive submodality and task construct, produced the most consistent benefits in position-reproduction accuracy/error, movement-detection sensitivity, or discrimination performance, depending on the outcome assessed. In contrast, multimodal regimens (balance, strengthening, taping, manual therapy) commonly improved balance, pain, strength, or function without comparably consistent evidence of enhanced direct psychophysical proprioceptive function. CONCLUSIONS: Specific psychophysical components of proprioceptive function appear modifiable, but only when training explicitly targets the sensory construct measured. The field remains conceptually diffuse, with frequent conflation of sensorimotor performance and proprioception. Progress depends on defining proprioceptive submodalities a priori, privileging validated psychophysical outcomes over surrogate outcomes, and aligning intervention content with measurement to substantiate true perceptual learning rather than generic motor adaptation.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Postural instability on one foot in patients with loss of unilateral peripheral vestibular function.

The vestibular system is a major contributor to postural control and the vestibular nuclei are closely connected to the limb spinal motor neurons. Acute loss of unilateral peripheral vestibular function results in, among others, postural instability which improves with time due to central compensatory processes. It has been shown, however, that a number of processes, such as sensorimotor restriction, drugs, and so forth, may affect the speed and the quality of compensation. Due to the difference of ipsilateral vs contralateral connectivity between the vestibular nuclei and the limb spinal motor neurons, and the peculiarities of compensatory processes, the ipsilateral may not compensate as well as the contralateral foot to lesion in patients who lost unilateral peripheral vestibular function. To explore this possibility, the sway, while standing on each foot, was recorded in normal subjects (N = 30) and compensated (except three) patients (N = 37) with loss of unilateral peripheral vestibular function and the percentage difference between the two sways was calculated. No difference was found between patients swaying more on the ipsilateral vs patients swaying more on the contralateral foot to lesion (p > .80). There was, however, a statistical difference between patients as a group vs normal subjects as a group (p = .005). These data suggest, although not evident in all patients of the group, that sway on the contralateral foot was less than the sway on the ipsilateral foot to lesion, as initially speculated. They may, however, signify that one foot compensates better than the other. This is a preliminary report and more testing is on-going to confirm these results.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Neonatal intrahippocampal gp120 injection: an examination early in development.

The presence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in the brain is believed to be responsible for mediating the pathogenesis of neurological abnormalities through the viral toxins gp120 and Tat. Numerous studies indicate neurotoxic effects of the HIV-1-protein Tat, with demonstrated neurobehavioral and cognitive alterations. However, less clear is the neurotoxic effect of gp120 on neurobehavior. This study was designed to characterize the potential deficits in sensory-motor and preattentive functions, following intrahippocampal administration of gp120. Using a randomized-block design, male and female pups of eight Sprague-Dawley litters were injected bilaterally with either vehicle (VEH) (1 microl volume) or one of the three gp120 doses (1.29, 12.9, or 129 ng/microl) at postnatal day (P)1. Sensory-motor functions were assessed at P3, as measured by the righting reflex and at P8, as measured by negative geotaxis. At P24 animals were tested on preattentive processes, as indexed by sensorimotor gating. Sensorimotor gating was measured by prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the auditory startle response (ASR) (ISIs of 0, 8, 40, 80, 120, and 4000 ms, six trial blocks, Latin-square design). Results indicated gp120-induced neurotoxicity on the righting reflex but not negative geotaxis. For sensorimotor gating, the PPI test demonstrated a reduced inhibition response on peak ASR latency as the dose of gp120 increased. No effect was noted for response inhibition on peak ASR amplitude. These data suggest that intrahippocampal injection of gp120 (0, 1.29, 12.9, or 129 ng/microl) had transient neurotoxic effects on sensory-motor function and limited effects on preattentive processes early in development.

Animals↗