Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience - Volume 31, issue 3

Authors: Rücker, Gerta | Antes, Gerd

Article Type: Other

DOI: 10.3233/RNN-120275

Citation: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 233-234, 2013

Authors: Tass, Peter A. | Adamchic, Ilya | Freund, Hans-Joachim | von Stackelberg, Tatjana | Hauptmann, Christian

Article Type: Other

DOI: 10.3233/RNN-121123

Citation: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 235-237, 2013

Authors: Cui, Lili | Qu, Huiling | Xiao, Ting | Zhao, Mei | Jolkkonen, Jukka | Zhao, Chuansheng

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Stromal cell-derived factor-1 was originally found as a chemoattractant for immune cells. Later it was shown that stromal cell-derived factor-1 and its specific receptor CXCR4 were widely expressed in the developing and mature brains. They participate in a variety of physiological and pathological processes including brain development, angiogenesis, neurodegeneration and neurogenesis. Stromal cell-derived factor-1/CXCR4 plays a particularly important role in adult neurogenesis through mediating the proliferation of neurogenitors, regulating the migration, differentiation, as well as functional integration of newborn neurons into existing networks. After stroke, adult neurogenesis in both the subventricular zone and subgranular zone is robustly increased and stromal …cell-derived factor-1 and matrix metalloproteinases are released by damaged tissue. Stromal cell-derived factor-1 promotes the proliferation of neuroblasts and their migration to injured areas. However, the majority of the neuroblasts produced after stroke undergo apoptosis and only a few differentiate and survive in the long-term. The interaction of stromal cell-derived factor-1 and matrix’ metalloproteinases may contribute to the unfavorable local microenvironment diminishing the survival of newborn neurons. Stromal cell-derived factor-1/matrix metalloproteinases and their downstream pathways may provide a new target for the treatment of stroke. Show more

Keywords: Adult neurogenesis, matrix metalloproteinases, stromal cell-derived factor-1, stroke

DOI: 10.3233/RNN-120271

Citation: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 239-251, 2013

Authors: Wang, Luojun | Rouleau, Dominique M. | Beaumont, Eric

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Surgical repair alone does not lead to satisfactory recovery after nerve laceration injury, yet no adjuvant clinical treatments are available. The goal of this review is to systematically survey all adjuvant treatments after surgery investigated in rat and mouse models. Both PubMed and Embase were explored with a systematic bibliographic search algorithm. Inclusion criteria consisted of treatments applied to rats or mice after complete transection and microsurgical repair of lower-limb motor or mixed nerves. Effect size statistics enabled numerical comparison between outcomes of treated and untreated animals and ranked the best treatments. 1,553 articles were found according to our search …strategies, and 22 of them corresponded to our pre-defined inclusion criteria. After data extraction and analysis, the top 3 adjuvant strategies in terms of combined average effect size were citicoline, neurotrophin-4, and nitric oxide synthesis inhibitor, with values of 5.52, 5.14 and 4.08, respectively. Definitive treatment comparison was difficult due to the lack of uniformity in outcome evaluation in the experiments performed. Animal studies, comparing treatments administered within the same experimental protocol, are needed to truly assess efficiency and to provide solid recommendations for future clinical investigation. Show more

Keywords: Nerve repair, rat, mouse, adjuvant therapy, gait, muscle strength

DOI: 10.3233/RNN-120253

Citation: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 253-262, 2013

Authors: Pajenda, Gholam | Pajer, Krisztián | Márton, Gábor | Hegyi, Péter | Redl, Heinz | Nógrádi, Antal

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Purpose: Avulsion of one or more ventral roots from the spinal cord leads to the death of the majority of affected motoneurons. In this study we investigated whether immortalized clonal neuroectodermal stem cells applied to the injured cord in various ways impart neuroprotection on motoneurons otherwise destined to die. Methods: The lumbar 4 (L4) ventral root of Sprague-Dawley rats was avulsed and reimplanted ventrolaterally into the injured cord. Clonal neuroectodermal murine stem cells (NE-GFP-4C) were placed in fibrin clot around the reimplanted root, were injected immediately following avulsion into the reimplanted ventral root or directly into the L4 segment. Three …months after the primary surgery the L4 motoneuron pool was retrogradely labelled with Fast blue and the numbers of reinnervating motoneurons were determined. Functional recovery was tested biweekly through the use of the CatWalk automated gait analysis system. Results: Transplantation of neuroectodermal stem cells into the reimplanted root or into the L4 spinal segment resulted in similarly extensive regeneration of the motoneurons (671 ± 26 and 711 ± 14 L4 motoneurons, respectively). In these groups significant functional recovery was achieved. The negative controls and animals with periradicular stem cell treatment showed poor motor recovery and reinnervation (42 ± 10 and 65 ± 2.5, respectively). Conclusion: This study provides evidence that neuroectodermal stem cell transplantation into the reimplanted ventral root induces as successful regeneration of injured motoneurons as stem cells grafted into the spinal cord. Show more

Keywords: Stem cell, spinal cord, ventral root, avulsion injury, motoneuron, cell death, functional reinnervation, survival

DOI: 10.3233/RNN-120294

Citation: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 263-274, 2013

Authors: Turi, Zs. | Ambrus, G.G. | Janacsek, K. | Emmert, K. | Hahn, L. | Paulus, W. | Antal, A.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Purpose: Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is a non-invasive stimulation technique for shaping neuroplastic processes and possibly entraining ongoing neural oscillations in humans. Despite the growing number of studies using tACS, we know little about the procedural sensations caused by stimulation. In order to fill this gap, we explored the cutaneous sensation and phosphene perception during tACS. Methods: Twenty healthy participants took part in a randomized, single-blinded, sham-controlled study, where volunteers received short duration stimulation at 1.0 mA intensity between 2 to 250 Hz using the standard left motor cortex – contralateral supraorbital montage. We recorded the perception onset latency …and the strength of the sensations assessed by visual rating scale as dependent variables. Results: We found that tACS evoked both cutaneous sensation and phosphene perception in a frequency-dependent manner. Our results show that the most perceptible procedural sensations were induced in the beta and gamma frequency range, especially at 20 Hz, whereas minimal procedural sensations were indicated in the ripple range (140 and 250 Hz). Conclusions: We believe that our results provide a relevant insight into the procedural sensations caused by oscillatory currents, and will offer a basis for developing more sophisticated stimulation protocols and study designs for future investigations. Show more

Keywords: Oscillatory current, transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), procedural sensations, cutaneous sensation, phosphene perception, motor cortex

DOI: 10.3233/RNN-120297

Citation: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 275-285, 2013

Authors: Cimmino, Rocco L. | Spitoni, Grazia | Serino, Andrea | Antonucci, Gabriella | Catagni, Maurizio | Camagni, Marco | Haggard, Patrick | Pizzamiglio, Luigi

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Purpose: A realistic body representation needs to be constantly updated. In case of physiological modifications, body representations integrate information coming from different sensory sources, including the sense of touch. Previous studies described transient modifications of these representations following illusory distortions. In this single case study, we documented the changes occurred in lower-level, primary somatosensory, and higher-level representations, in a case of upper arms elongation. Method: We explored effects of arm lengthening on primary tactile perception (sensitivity and acuity), an implicit perceptual measure of body size (tactile distance judgement), body image (Daurat-Hmelijak test), and peri-personal space representation (audio-tactile interaction task). Results: …We show that patient's arm representation was changed after surgery. Specifically, we observed significant changes on tactile distance judgments, body image test and audio-tactile interaction task; also even though no changes were found on primary tactile perception a significant modification emerged in tactile acuity. Conclusions: These findings are in line with evidence of cortical reorganization after arm elongation. They also support the view that the body representation of achondroplasics are modified after body-size reconstruction, and became similar to that of healthy controls. Show more

Keywords: Body representations, peripersonal space, cortical plasticity, tactile perception, primary sensory processing

DOI: 10.3233/RNN-120286

Citation: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 287-298, 2013

Authors: Page, Stephen J. | Boe, Shaun | Levine, Peter

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Modified constraint induced movement therapy (mCIT) increases paretic upper extremity use and movement in all phases of stroke. Although fundamental to its appropriate implementation, specific details on day to day implementation on this promising family of therapies have not heretofore been published. Consequently, some integral behavioral facets of mCIT may be overlooked, while other approaches may be easily mistaken to constitute mCIT, during attempts to implement the therapy. The purpose of this paper is to review mCIT, and to provide the clinician-reader with a detailed description of the “ingredients” of mCIT and their rationale, including clinical examples of these components. …It is expected that a more complete understanding of the components comprising this promising approach will overcome knowledge barriers associated with its appropriate use, and encourage better patient management in clinical practice. Show more

Keywords: Rehabilitation, stroke, occupational therapy, physical therapy, hemiplegia

DOI: 10.3233/RNN-120264

Citation: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 299-309, 2013

Authors: Clemens, Benjamin | Zvyagintsev, Mikhail | Sack, Alexander T. | Heinecke, Armin | Willmes, Klaus | Sturm, Walter

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Purpose: Behavioural studies of attention training after brain damage have shown that only training procedures specifically related to the impaired attention function lead to significant improvements in the respective attention domain when using psychometric tests addressing these functions. The main objective of this fMRI study was to investigate specific as well as common neural correlates of alertness and focused attention and to assess the degree of neural overlap for two different tasks of the same attention function. Methods: To investigate how different attention functions are processed, we tested 32 healthy participants using fMRI. Each participant was randomly assigned to the …alertness (n = 16) or the focused attention (n = 16) group, where participants underwent two different attention tasks, one being a diagnostic computerized test procedure and the other being a computer-game like training procedure. Results: The present results show similar activation patterns when assessing the same attention function with two different tasks. Activation overlap for test and training tasks of the same attention function was more clear-cut than the activation overlap for two different attention functions. Conclusions: Clinically validated diagnostic test paradigms and computer game-like training paradigms for both alertness and focused attention activated common brain systems processing the respective attention function. These findings may help to explain the beneficial effect of specifically designed attentional training procedures and the validity of related psychometric tests in detecting specific changes in performance after training of the same attention functions. Show more

Keywords: Alertness, fMRI, focused attention, neuropsychological test, neuropsychological training, clinical neuropsychology

DOI: 10.3233/RNN-120266

Citation: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 311-336, 2013

Authors: Jaminet, Patrick | Köhler, David | Schäufele, Martin | Rahmanian-Schwarz, Afshin | Lotter, Oliver | Fornaro, Michele | Ronchi, Giulia | Geuna, Stefano | Rosenberger, Peter | Schaller, Hans-Eberhard

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Background: Less is known about the role of Netrin-1 in the peripheral nervous system. In this study, we evaluated the role of Netrin-1 using the mouse median nerve model for assessment of peripheral nerve regeneration. Methods: Using real-time PCR and Western Blot analysis, we examined expression changes of Netrin-1 mRNA and Netrin-1 protein after transection and repair of the mouse median nerve in Wild-type animals. We further evaluated histomorphometrical changes as well as the functional recovery of the grasping force after median nerve transection and repair in WT mice and Netrin-1+/− heterozygous mice. Results: RT-PCR revealed a 1, 9 …fold increase of Netrin-1 mRNA two weeks after nerve transection and repair in the nerve segment distal to the injury site. In Western blot analysis, we could show a high increase of Netrin-1 in the nerve segment distal to the injury site at day 14. Histomorphometrical analysis showed significantly higher cross sectional area and a lower fibre density in heterozygous Netrin-1+/− mice. Using the functional grasping test, we could show that peripheral nerve regeneration is significantly diminished in heterozygous Netrin-1+/− mice. Conclusions: Employing the mouse median nerve model in transgenic animals, we demonstrate that Netrin-1 plays an important role during peripheral nerve regeneration. Show more

Keywords: Median nerve model, transgenic, peripheral nervous system, Netrin-1, grasping test

DOI: 10.3233/RNN-120277

Citation: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 337-345, 2013