This study aimed to establish the differences in muscle activation between a 6-minute simulated race (all-out test) and a submaximal (blood lactate [LA] concentration 4 mmol·L(-1)) 6-minute effort (submax test) on a rowing ergometer. Eleven healthy, well-trained subjects performed the submax test followed after 1-hour rest by the all-out test. Surface electromyographic (sEMG) signal of muscles ...

PURPOSE Individuals with spinal cord injuries resulting in tetraplegia may receive tendon transfer surgery to restore grasp and pinch function. These procedures often involve rerouting the brachioradialis (Br) and the extensor carpi radialis longus tendons volar to the flexion-extension axis of the wrist, leaving the extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB) muscle to provide wrist extension streng...

Spasticity following upper motor neuron lesion can be alleviated by few treatments such as physiotherapy, drugs and neurosurgery. However, they all have side effects, limitations or lack of selectivity. We tentatively used the paralyzing effects of botulinum toxin. Since the late 1970's the use of this toxin has increased and it has been extended to numerous muscles and diseases of various caus...

OBJECTIVE To describe real-life practice and person-centred outcomes in the treatment of poststroke upper limb spasticity with botulinum toxin A (BoNT-A). DESIGN Observational, prospective study. SETTING 84 secondary care centres in 22 countries. PARTICIPANTS 456 adults (≥18 years) with poststroke upper limb spasticity treated with one cycle of BoNT-A. METHODS/OUTCOMES Muscle selection,...

Paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (ppTMS) is a noninvasive method to measure cortical inhibition in vivo. Long interpulse interval (50-500 ms) ppTMS (LI-ppTMS) provokes intracortical inhibitory circuits and can reveal pathologically impaired cortical inhibition in disorders such as epilepsy. Adaptation of ppTMS protocols to rodent disease models is highly desirable to facilitate ba...

Yasir El-Sherif, MD, PhD Harini Sarva, MD Helen Valsamis, MD SECTION 1 A 30-year-old right-handed man presented to the emergency room with right forearm numbness and elbow pain for 7 months. For the past 4 weeks he could not write or hold anything with his right hand. His primary care physician referred him to the hospital for further workup after noticing thenar atrophy in that hand. He also d...

Cysticercosis is a common human infestation in the developing world. Neurocysticercosis is the most common clinical presentation of cysticercal infestation in the human body, but it may be rarely encountered in other body parts like skeletal muscle, subcutaneous tissue and eye. We report this case of an uncommon clinical presentation of soft tissue cysticercosis as an isolated forearm swelling....

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is primarily used in humans to change the state of corticospinal excitability. To assess the efficacy of different rTMS stimulation protocols, motor evoked potentials (MEPs) are used as a readout due to their non-invasive nature. Stimulation of the motor cortex produces a response in a targeted muscle, and the amplitude of this twitch provides...

Twenty-four men (n = 11) and women (n = 13) supported an inertial load equivalent to 20% of the maximum voluntary contraction force with the elbow flexor muscles for as long as possible while maintaining a constant elbow angle at 90 degrees. Endurance time did not differ on the three occasions that the task was performed (320 +/- 149 s; P > 0.05), and there was no difference between women (360 ...

BACKGROUND Tendon transfer is a surgical technique for restoring upper limb motor control in patients with cervical spinal cord injuries (SCI), and offers a rare window into cortical neuroplasticity following regained arm and hand function. OBJECTIVE Here, we aimed to examine neuroplasticity mechanisms related to re-established voluntary motor control of thumb flexion following tendon transfe...