In the real world, we use our innate manual dexterity to create and manipulate 3D objects. Conventional virtual design tools largely neglect this skill by imposing non-intuitive 2D control mechanisms for interacting with 3D design models. Their usage is thus cumbersome, time consuming and requires training. We propose a novel design paradigm that combines users’ manual dexterity with the physic...

Neuromotor systems have the capacity for functional recovery following damage to the central nervous system. This recovery can be enhanced by rehabilitative training. Animal studies in which artificial damage is induced in a specific region of the brain or spinal cord of rodents or monkeys have contributed to our understanding of the effects of rehabilitative training. In this article, I provid...

Music-supported therapy (MST) is an innovative approach that was shown to improve manual dexterity in acute stroke survivors. The feasibility of such intervention in chronic stroke survivors and its longer-term benefits, however, remain unknown. The objective of this pilot study was to estimate the short- and long-term effects of a 3-week piano training program on upper extremity function in pe...

In rodents and nonhuman primates subjected to spinal cord lesion, neutralizing the neurite growth inhibitor Nogo-A has been shown to promote regenerative axonal sprouting and functional recovery. The goal of the present report was to re-examine the data on the recovery of the primate manual dexterity using refined behavioral analyses and further statistical assessments, representing secondary o...

OBJECTIVE Music-supported therapy was shown to induce improvements in motor skills in stroke survivors. Whether all stroke individuals respond similarly to the intervention and whether gains can be maintained over time remain unknown. We estimated the immediate and retention effects of a piano training program on upper extremity function in persons with chronic stroke. METHODS Thirteen stroke...

OBJECTIVE This study reviews the usefulness of surgical improvement of arm and hand function in patients with non-traumatic spinal cord injury who differ significantly from individuals with post-traumatic tetraplegia with respect to age, injury pattern, gender and socio-economic factors. DESIGN Case series. Tests were conducted preoperatively and 12 months postoperatively. PATIENTS The resu...

We assessed the neuropsychological test performances of 26 patients (mean age = 41.5 +/- 6.1 years; mean years of education = 9.8 +/- 1.8; 20 males) diagnosed with chronic occupational mercurialism who were former workers at a fluorescent lamp factory. They had been exposed to elemental mercury for an average of 10.2 +/- 3.8 years and had been away from this work for 6 +/- 4.7 years. Mean urina...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of a high dose of alcohol on physiological and psychological parameters in young men and women with a previous history of alcohol consumption. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, state anxiety, attention, time estimation and manual dexterity were registered before (phase 1) and after (phase 2) intake of alcohol (38.4 g) or a...

AIM To investigate whether hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle affect corticospinal excitability, intracortical inhibition (ICI) or facilitation (ICF) in primary motor cortex, and also whether the hormonal fluctuations have any effect on manual dexterity in neurologically intact women. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty volunteers (10 Female, 10 Male) were included in this study. The l...

UNLABELLED BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate whether self-reports of work ability correlated to the results of quantitative tests measuring physical capacity and a questionnaire assessing psychological mood in vibration-exposed patients with hand symptoms. METHODS The participants comprised 47 patients (36 men and eleven women) with exposure to hand vibration and vascular...