Unpredictable forces which perturb balance are frequently applied to the body through interaction between the upper limb and the environment. Lower limb muscles respond rapidly to these postural disturbances in a highly specific manner. We have shown that the muscle activation patterns of lower limb muscles are organized in a direction specific manner which changes with lower limb stability. An...

The central nervous system takes advantage of prior knowledge about potential upcoming perturbations for modulating postural reflexes. There are two distinct aspects of prior knowledge: spatial and temporal. This study investigated how each of spatial and temporal prior knowledge contributes to the shortening of muscle response latency. Eleven participants walked on a split-belt treadmill and p...

INTRODUCTION High intensity cutaneous stimulus transiently suppresses tonic voluntary muscle activity resulting in cutaneous silent period (CSP). AIM The aim of our study was to evaluate the normal values of an onset latency L1, a late latency L2 and a duration of CSP after stimulating sensory fibres of the median nerve. MATERIAL AND METHODS This prospective study was performed at the Neuro...

Muscle reflexes, evoked by opposing a sudden joint displacement, may be modulated by several factors associated with the features of the mechanical perturbation. We investigated the variations of muscle reflex response in relation to the predictability of load magnitude during a reactive grasping task. Subjects were instructed to flex the fingers 2-5 very quickly after a stretching was exerted ...

Background: N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has been indicated against experimental seizures, but with relatively inconclusive results. This study was undertaken to evaluate whether NAC exerts a dose-dependent anticonvulsant effect and to determine NAC safe therapeutic dose range and its muscle-relaxant activity in both acute and chronic uses.Methods: Following intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of N...

The motor cortex can be excited in adults using electromagnetic stimulation, and the latency to the evoked muscle action potential allows an assessment of the integrity of corticospinal tracts. We applied this technique in children to describe the maturation of corticospinal tracts. The latency from cortical stimulation to the onset of the evoked muscle action potentials and the subject's heigh...

background: alterations in the neuromuscular control of the spine were found in patients with chronic low back pain (clbp). sudden loading of the spine is assumed to be the cause of approximately 12% of lower back injuries. however, some aspects of this problem, such as alterations in the sensory–motor control of the spine, remain questionable. this study investigated postural and neuro–motor c...

A wealth of studies highlight the importance of rapid corrective responses during voluntary motor tasks. These studies used relatively large perturbations to evoke robust muscle activity. Thus it remains unknown whether these corrective responses (latency 20-100 ms) are evoked at perturbation levels approaching the inherent variability of voluntary control. To fill this gap, we examined respons...

In the clinical setting the bulbocavernosus reflex (BCR) is elicited by squeezing the glans penis and digitally palpating the contraction of the bulbocavernosus (BC) muscle. In neurophysiology the BCR is obtained by stimulating the dorsal nerve of the penis or clitoris and by recording the response from BC muscle and it should be performed in selected patients with suspected urinary, bowel, or ...

background: carum carvi l . (caraway), known as black zeera in iran, has been indicated for the treatment of epilepsy in iranian folk medicine. this study evaluated whether the aqueous extract and essential oil of caraway seeds have anticonvulsant effects in mice. methods: the anticonvulsant effects of the aqueous extract (200, 400, 800, 1600, and 3200 mg/kg, i.p.) and essential oil (25, 50, 10...