OBJECTIVE To determine whether there are diffusion abnormalities along the fibers connecting sensorimotor regions, including the primary sensorimotor areas and the striatum, in patients with writer's cramp using voxel-based diffusion analysis and fiber tracking. Recent studies have shown structural changes in these regions in writer's cramp. DESIGN Patient and control group comparison. SETT...

A new particle-based method, the material point method (MPM), has recently been extended to handle explicit cracks in a new algorithm called CRAMP or “CRAcks with Material Points.” This new method has several advantages for numerical work on fracture. Compared to finite element analysis, CRAMP can handle cracks with similar algorithmic efficiency, but is better at handling crack surface contact...

A critical examination of the literature on the use of electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback for problems of handwriting is presented. Examined are the procedures, results and conclusions of clinical treatments of writer's cramp and the habilitation of writing. The major flaws in each study are discussed and conclusions drawn from the review are presented, the primary one being that EMG biofeedba...

BACKGROUND The present study was aimed at investigating the writing parameters of writer's cramp patients and control subjects during handwriting of a test sentence in the absence of visual control. METHODS Eight right-handed patients with writer's cramp and eight healthy volunteers as age-matched control subjects participated in the study. The experimental task consisted in writing a test se...

INTRODUCTION Focal dystonia in musicians, also known as musician's cramp, is a task-specific movement disorder which presents itself as a painless muscular incoordina-ABSTRACT Background: Musician's dystonia is a task-spe

ABSTRACT Host-derived antimicrobial peptides play an important role in the defense against extracellular bacterial infections. However, capacity of derived from macrophages as potential antibacterial effectors intracellular pathogens remains unknown. In this study, we report that normal (wild-type, WT) mouse increased their expression cathelin-related peptide (CRAMP, encoded by Camp) after infe...

Ferguson, D. (1971). Brit. J. industr. Med., 28, 280-285. An Australian study of telegraphists' cramp. An investigation of telegraphists' cramp in an Australian public service organization attempted to assess the prevalance of the disorder, the degree of its transfer from morse to keyboard operating, and possible contributory influences. From an interview of 516 telegraphists in Sydney, Melbour...

The treatment of writer's cramp, a task-specific focal hand dystonia, needs new approaches. A deficiency of inhibition in the motor cortex might cause writer's cramp. Transcranial direct current stimulation modulates cortical excitability and may provide a therapeutic alternative. In this randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled study, we investigated the efficacy of cathodal stimulation of th...

In this paper, kinematic characteristics of writing are compared in 5 patient with writer’s cramp who performed a set of standardized writing task. The kinematic characteristics thumb and forefinger force before and during cramp. The effect of writing on different inclined supporting surfaces is also investigated. Our results indicate that inclined surfaces aspects of writing discomfort in writ...