PURPOSE How are motor maps modified within and in the immediate vicinity of a damaged zone in the motor cortex of non-human primates? METHODS In eight adult macaque monkeys subjected to a restricted chemical lesion of the hand area in the primary motor cortex (M1), motor maps were established using intracortical micro-stimulation (ICMS) techniques. The monkeys were subdivided into five animal...

Volume 84, Number 8 www.aafp.org/afp American Family Physician 947 Bell palsy is an idiopathic, unilateral, acute paresis or paralysis of facial movement caused by dysfunction of the lower motor neuron. Up to 30 percent of persons with acute peripheral facial palsy have an alternative cause diagnosed at presentation or during the course of their facial palsy. Alternative causes are higher in ch...

[Purpose] The aim of study was to evaluate the impact of physical therapy on the recovery of motor and mental status in patients who sustained a severe traumatic brain injury, according to coma duration in acute and post-acute rehabilitation. [Subjects and Methods] The study population comprised patients with levels of consciousness ranging from 3 to 8 according to Glasgow Coma Scale score. The...

Emerging evidence indicates impairments in somatosensory function may be a major contributor to motor dysfunction associated with neurologic injury or disorders. However, the neuroanatomical substrates underlying the connection between aberrant sensory input and ineffective motor output are still under investigation. The primary somatosensory cortex (S1) plays a critical role in processing affe...

Functional disability and motor impairments are important concerns post stroke, therefore improving functional and motor outcome is one of the main goals of stroke rehabilitation. Most recovery is seen in the first weeks after stroke, with the recovery slope reaching a plateau between 3 and 6 months. It remains unclear whether early improvements can be sustained long term after stroke. Knowledg...

introduction: spinal cord injury (sci) is one of the most serious clinical diseases, which not only affects the patient's physical and mental status, but its effects will be spread to family and community. after severe spinal cord injury, astrocytes of the central nervous system (cns) become reactive astrocytes, and play the main role of glial scar formation. the scar is a major obstacle t...

Structural connectivity analyses by means of diffusion-weighted imaging have substantially advanced the understanding of stroke-related network alterations and their implications for motor recovery processes and residual motor function. Analyses of the corticospinal tract, alternate corticofugal pathways as well as intrahemispheric and interhemispheric corticocortical connections have not only ...

New interventional approaches have been proposed in the last few years to treat the motor deficits resulting from brain lesions. Training protocols represent the gold-standard of these approaches. However, the degree of motor recovery experienced by most patients remains incomplete. It would be important to improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying functional recovery. This chapter...

There is a lack of consistency among researchers and clinicians in the use of terminology that describes changes in motor ability following neurological injury. Specifically, the terms and definitions of motor compensation and motor recovery have been used in different ways, which is a potential barrier to interdisciplinary communication. This Point of View describes the problem and offers a so...

Introduction: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the most serious clinical diseases, which not only affects the patient's physical and mental status, but its effects will be spread to family and community. After severe spinal cord injury, astrocytes of the central nervous system (CNS) become reactive astrocytes, and play the main role of glial scar formation. The scar is a major obstacle to r...