The underlying neurophysiology of postural control of the lower back in humans is poorly understood. We have characterized motor unit (MU) discharge activity in the deep lumbar multifidus (LM) muscle in nine healthy subjects (20-40 yr, 3 females). Bilateral fine wire electrodes were implanted at L4 spinal level using ultrasound guidance. EMG was recorded during spontaneous sitting and standing ...

Evidence from both anatomical and physiological studies suggests that the ascending segment of the granule cell axon provides a large, driving input to overlying Purkinje cells. In the current experiments, we used dual recording electrodes to simultaneously record spike activity of Purkinje cells and multiunit field potential activity in the directly underlying granule cell layer. These dual re...

Introduction: Success in anesthesia administration relieves the perception of pain during surgery. Lidocaine is the most commonly used local anesthetic agent in clinical medicine. Moreover, anesthetic agents' temperature changes can influence cell membrane permeability. Here, the effectiveness of different temperatures of lidocaine (Lid.) on anesthesia success rate in rats has been investigated...

Spontaneous eyeblink rates vary greatly between people, from several to a few dozen blinks per minute. Nevertheless, it remains unknown which brain region controls generation of spontaneous eyeblinks. To investigate this issue, the present study examined brain anatomy, which reflects inter-individual variability in eyeblink rate using structural magnetic resonance images with voxel-based morpho...

The voltage-gated Na and K channels in neurons are responsible for action potential generation. Because ion channels open and close in a stochastic fashion, spontaneous (ectopic) action potentials can result even in the absence of stimulation. While spontaneous action potentials have been studied in detail in single-compartment models, studies on spatially extended processes have been limited. ...

Background: The prevalence of obesity is continuing to increase among women. Irregular menstrual cycles, reduced spontaneous and assisted fertility and an increased risk of miscarriage are risks associated with obesity that are often overlooked . This prospective study evaluated the effect of weight reduction on ovarian functions and fertility in anovulatory overweight women with polycystic ova...

Recent work on isolated sinoatrial node cells from rabbit has suggested that sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release plays a dominant role in the pacemaker potential, and ryanodine at a high concentration (30 micromol/L blocks sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release) abolishes pacemaking and at a lower concentration abolishes the chronotropic effect of beta-adrenergic stimulation. The aim of the presen...