Motor Activity Research Articles

Ethanol extract of Ziziphus nummularia ameliorates formaldehyde-induced arthritis in rats by regulating oxidative stress biomarkers and haematological profile.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune inflammatory disorder that mainly affects bone and cartilage architecture. The continuous use of NSAIDs and DMARDs is associated with severe toxic effects. Therefore, the current study was designed to scrutinize herb-based therapy for the treatment of RA. To evaluate the anti-arthritic activity of ethanol extract of Ziziphus nummularia using formaldehyde-induced arthritic model in rats and elucidate the possible mechanism for anti-arthritic activity. Anti-arthritic activity of ETZN was studied at three oral doses, i.e., 200, 400, and 600mg/kg. Selected doses were studied using various clinical parameters viz. paw volume, inflammatory index, motility test, stair test, anti-nociceptive efficacy, walking track analysis, and motor activity) from day 1 to day 10. On the last day, the animals were killed for the evaluation of hematological parameters, oxidative stress biomarkers, and histological and radiographic studies of the hind paw. Treatment with ETZN 400mg/kg and 600mg/kg markedly elicited a significant reduction in paw volume, inflammatory index, and nociceptive action compared to diseased animals. Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory activity was confirmed by increased latency of pain threshold in thermal and mechanical algesia models. The anti-arthritic activity is mainly attributed to a reduction in oxidative stress biomarkers as well as restoration of haematological profile in treated animals when compared to diseased animals. Lastly, the anti-arthritic potential was confirmed by histological and radiological analysis which revealed a marked reduction in inflammatory cells and bone destruction as compared to diseased animals. The study revealed that ETZN exhibits significant anti-arthritic activity via modulation of oxidative stress biomarkers, restoration of hematological profile, and reduction in bone erosion.

Adults with cerebral palsy exhibit uncharacteristic cortical oscillations during an adaptive sensorimotor control task

Prior research has shown that the sensorimotor cortical oscillations are uncharacteristic in persons with cerebral palsy (CP); however, it is unknown if these altered cortical oscillations have an impact on adaptive sensorimotor control. This investigation evaluated the cortical dynamics when the motor action needs to be changed “on-the-fly”. Adults with CP and neurotypical controls completed a sensorimotor task that required either proactive or reactive control while undergoing magnetoencephalography (MEG). When compared with the controls, the adults with CP had a weaker beta (18–24 Hz) event-related desynchronization (ERD), post-movement beta rebound (PMBR, 16–20 Hz) and theta (4–6 Hz) event-related synchronization (ERS) in the sensorimotor cortices. In agreement with normative work, the controls exhibited differences in the strength of the sensorimotor gamma (66–84 Hz) ERS during proactive compared to reactive trials, but similar condition-wise changes were not seen in adults with CP. Lastly, the adults with CP who had a stronger theta ERS tended to have better hand dexterity, as indicated by the Box and Blocks Test and Purdue Pegboard Test. These results may suggest that alterations in the theta and gamma cortical oscillations play a role in the altered hand dexterity and uncharacteristic adaptive sensorimotor control noted in adults with CP.

Collage Innovations Enhancing Preschool Fine Motor Skills Globally

This study aims to explore the efficacy of collage activities using paper clay media in enhancing fine motor skills among 4-5-year-old children at TK Aisyiyah 2 Porong. Employing a classroom action research (CAR) design, the study progresses through planning, implementation, observation, and reflection stages. Data collection involved observation, documentation, and interviews, analyzed descriptively and quantitatively. The research found that fine motor skills significantly improved, with an average achievement in Cycle I at 70% and Cycle II at 83%. Teacher activity scores also increased from 2.3 to 3.8 between cycles. Results indicate the success of collage activities using paper clay in enhancing fine motor skills. The study underscores the importance of demonstration and practice methods in facilitating children's understanding and proficiency in fine motor activities. The findings offer implications for educators and curriculum developers seeking to enhance fine motor skills in early childhood education through innovative, hands-on approaches. Highlight: Improved skills: Collage boosts fine motor skills in preschoolers effectively. Engaging methods: Demonstrations enhance understanding and engagement in motor activities. Innovative media: Paper clay fosters creativity and fine motor development effectively. Keywoard: Motor Skills, Collage, Paper Clay, Preschool, Action Research

The correlation of orthostatic hypotension in Parkinson disease with the disease course and severity and its impact on quality of life.

We investigated the correlation of orthostatic hypotension (OH) in Parkinson disease (PD) with the disease course and severity, and its possible impact on quality of life. 171 PD patients were recruited and divided into the PD-NOH (n = 91) and PD-OH groups (n = 80). Clinical data were collected. The severity and quality of life of PD patients were evaluated. The impact of disease severity was analyzed using logistic regression analysis. The ROC curve was plotted. There were significant differences (P < .05) between PD-NOH and PD-OH groups in terms of the disease course, non-motor symptoms (somnipathy), Hoehn&Yahr stage, LEDD score, RBDSQ score, PDQ-39 score, MMSE score, MoCA, MDS-UPDRS Part III scores during off- and on-periods, and NMSS score. Hoehn&Yahr stage (OR 4.950, 95% CI 1.516-16.157, P = .008) was closely associated with the risk of OH in PD. PDQ-39 score (OR 1.079, 95% CI 1.033-1.127, P = .001) in PD patients with OH further decreased. Patients with PD-OH experienced severe impairment in 4 dimensions of quality of life, including motor function, cognitive function, physical discomfort, and activities of daily living. Different clinical symptoms of PD-OH were positively correlated with PDQ39 subscales. The area under the ROC curve of the Hoehn&Yahr stage in predicting the occurrence of OH was 0.679 (95% CI 0.600-0.758), and that of the Hoehn&Yahr stage combined with levodopa equivalent dose, and MDS-UPDRS Part III score during off-period was 0.793 (95% CI 0.727-0.862). Higher Hoehn&Yahr stage is associated with increased risk of OH in PD patients, and deteriorated quality of life of PD patients. Patients with different OH symptoms are affected in different dimensions of their quality of life. The Hoehn & Yahr stage can independently predict the risk of OH in PD patients.

Analyzing the Effects of Age, Time of Day, and Experiment on the Basal Locomotor Activity and Light-Off Visual Motor Response Assays in Zebrafish Larvae

The recent availability of commercial platforms for behavioral analyses in zebrafish larvae based on video-tracking technologies has exponentially increased the number of studies analyzing different behaviors in this model organism to assess neurotoxicity. Among the most commonly used assays in zebrafish larvae are basal locomotor activity (BLA) and visual motor responses (VMRs). However, the effect of different intrinsic and extrinsic factors that can significantly alter the outcome of these assays is still not well understood. In this work, we have analyzed the influence of age (5–8 days post-fertilization), time of day (8:00, 10:00, 12:00, 14:00; 16:00, 18:00, and 20:00 h), and experiment (three experiments performed at different days) on BLA and VMR results (4004 analyses for each behavior) in 143 larvae. The results from both behaviors were adjusted to a random-effects linear regression model using generalized least squares (GLSs), including in the model the effect of the three variables, the second-way interactions between them, and the three-way interaction. The results presented in this manuscript show a specific effect of all three intrinsic factors and their interactions on both behaviors, supporting the view that the most stable time period for performing these behavioral assays is from 10:00 am to 04:00 pm, with some differences depending on the age of the larva and the behavioral test.

Increased [18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose Uptake in the Left Pallidum in Military Veterans with Blast-Related Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Potential as an Imaging Biomarker and Mediation with Executive Dysfunction and Cognitive Impairment.

Blast-related mild traumatic brain injury (blast-mTBI) can result in a spectrum of persistent symptoms leading to substantial functional impairment and reduced quality of life. Clinical evaluation and discernment from other conditions common to military service can be challenging and subject to patient recall bias and the limitations of available assessment measures. The need for objective biomarkers to facilitate accurate diagnosis, not just for symptom management and rehabilitation but for prognostication and disability compensation purposes is clear. Toward this end, we compared regional brain [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography ([18F]FDG-PET) intensity-scaled uptake measurements and motor, neuropsychological, and behavioral assessments in 79 combat Veterans with retrospectively recalled blast-mTBI with 41 control participants having no lifetime history of TBI. Using an agnostic and unbiased approach, we found significantly increased left pallidum [18F]FDG-uptake in Veterans with blast-mTBI versus control participants, p < 0.0001; q = 3.29 × 10-9 [Cohen's d, 1.38, 95% confidence interval (0.96, 1.79)]. The degree of left pallidum [18F]FDG-uptake correlated with the number of self-reported blast-mTBIs, r2 = 0.22; p < 0.0001. Greater [18F]FDG-uptake in the left pallidum provided excellent discrimination between Veterans with blast-mTBI and controls, with a receiver operator characteristic area under the curve of 0.859 (p < 0.0001) and likelihood ratio of 21.19 (threshold:SUVR ≥ 0.895). Deficits in executive function assessed using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Global Executive Composite T-score were identified in Veterans with blast-mTBI compared with controls, p < 0.0001. Regression-based mediation analyses determined that in Veterans with blast-mTBI, increased [18F]FDG-uptake in the left pallidum-mediated executive function impairments, adjusted causal mediation estimate p = 0.021; total effect estimate, p = 0.039. Measures of working and prospective memory (Auditory Consonant Trigrams test and Memory for Intentions Test, respectively) were negatively correlated with left pallidum [18F]FDG-uptake, p < 0.0001, with mTBI as a covariate. Increased left pallidum [18F]FDG-uptake in Veterans with blast-mTBI compared with controls did not covary with dominant handedness or with motor activity assessed using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale. Localized increased [18F]FDG-uptake in the left pallidum may reflect a compensatory response to functional deficits following blast-mTBI. Limited imaging resolution does not allow us to distinguish subregions of the pallidum; however, the significant correlation of our data with behavioral but not motor outcomes suggests involvement of the ventral pallidum, which is known to regulate motivation, behavior, and emotions through basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical circuits. Increased [18F]FDG-uptake in the left pallidum in blast-mTBI versus control participants was consistently identified using two different PET scanners, supporting the generalizability of this finding. Although confirmation of our results by single-subject-to-cohort analyses will be required before clinical deployment, this study provides proof of concept that [18F]FDG-PET bears promise as a readily available noninvasive biomarker for blast-mTBI. Further, our findings support a causative relationship between executive dysfunction and increased [18F]FDG-uptake in the left pallidum.

Toward a brighter constellation: multiorgan neuroimaging of neural and vascular dynamics in the spinal cord and brain.

Pain comprises a complex interaction between motor action and somatosensation that is dependent on dynamic interactions between the brain and spinal cord. This makes understanding pain particularly challenging as it involves rich interactions between many circuits (e.g., neural and vascular) and signaling cascades throughout the body. As such, experimentation on a single region may lead to an incomplete and potentially incorrect understanding of crucial underlying mechanisms. We aimed to develop and validate tools to enable detailed and extended observation of neural and vascular activity in the brain and spinal cord. The first key set of innovations was targeted to developing novel imaging hardware that addresses the many challenges of multisite imaging. The second key set of innovations was targeted to enabling bioluminescent (BL) imaging, as this approach can address limitations of fluorescent microscopy including photobleaching, phototoxicity, and decreased resolution due to scattering of excitation signals. We designed 3D-printed brain and spinal cord implants to enable effective surgical implantations and optical access with wearable miniscopes or an open window (e.g., for one- or two-photon microscopy or optogenetic stimulation). We also tested the viability for BL imaging and developed a novel modified miniscope optimized for these signals (BLmini). We describe "universal" implants for acute and chronic simultaneous brain-spinal cord imaging and optical stimulation. We further describe successful imaging of BL signals in both foci and a new miniscope, the "BLmini," which has reduced weight, cost, and form-factor relative to standard wearable miniscopes. The combination of 3D-printed implants, advanced imaging tools, and bioluminescence imaging techniques offers a coalition of methods for understanding spinal cord-brain interactions. Our work has the potential for use in future research into neuropathic pain and other sensory disorders and motor behavior.

Assessment of motor activity of patients undergoing medical rehabilitation

Assessment of motor activity of patients undergoing medical rehabilitation

Disorders of Motor Activity in a Model of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Disorders of Motor Activity in a Model of Autism Spectrum Disorders

EEG source imaging of hand movement-related areas: an evaluation of the reconstruction and classification accuracy with optimized channels

The hand motor activity can be identified and converted into commands for controlling machines through a brain-computer interface (BCI) system. Electroencephalography (EEG) based BCI systems employ electrodes to measure the electrical brain activity projected at the scalp and discern patterns. However, the volume conduction problem attenuates the electric potential from the brain to the scalp and introduces spatial mixing to the signals. EEG source imaging (ESI) techniques can be applied to alleviate these issues and enhance the spatial segregation of information. Despite this potential solution, the use of ESI has not been extensively applied in BCI systems, largely due to accuracy concerns over reconstruction accuracy when using low-density EEG (ldEEG), which is commonly used in BCIs. To overcome these accuracy issues in low channel counts, recent studies have proposed reducing the number of EEG channels based on optimized channel selection. This work presents an evaluation of the spatial and temporal accuracy of ESI when applying optimized channel selection towards ldEEG number of channels. For this, a simulation study of source activity related to hand movement has been performed using as a starting point an EEG system with 339 channels. The results obtained after optimization show that the activity in the concerned areas can be retrieved with a spatial accuracy of 3.99, 10.69, and 14.29 mm (localization error) when using 32, 16, and 8 channel counts respectively. In addition, the use of optimally selected electrodes has been validated in a motor imagery classification task, obtaining a higher classification performance when using 16 optimally selected channels than 32 typical electrode distributions under 10–10 system, and obtaining higher classification performance when combining ESI methods with the optimal selected channels.

Myosin phosphatase targeting subunit1 controls localization and motility of Rab7-containing vesicles: Is myosin phosphatase a cytoplasmic dynein regulator?

Myosin phosphatase targeting subunit1 (MYPT1) is a critical subunit of myosin phosphatase (MP), which brings PP1Cδ phosphatase and its substrate together. We previously showed that MYPT1 depletion resulted in oblique chromatid segregation. Therefore, we hypothesized that MYPT1 may control microtubule-dependent motor activity. Dynein, a minus-end microtubule motor, is known to be involved in mitotic spindle assembly. We thus examined whether MYPT1 and dynein may interact. Proximity ligation assay and co-immunoprecipitation revealed that MYPT1 and dynein intermediate chain (DIC) were associated. We found that DIC phosphorylation is increased in MYPT1-depleted cells in vivo, and that MP was able to dephosphorylate DIC in vitro. MYPT1 depletion also altered the localization and motility of Rab7-containing vesicles. MYPT1-depletion dispersed the perinuclear Rab7 localization to the peripheral in interphase cells. The dispersed Rab7 localization was rescued by microinjection of a constitutively active, truncated MYPT1 mutant, supporting that MP is responsible for the altered Rab7 localization. Analyses of Rab7 vesicle trafficking also revealed that minus-end transport was reduced in MYPT1-depleted cells. These results suggest an unexpected role of MP: MP controls dynein activity in both mitotic and interphase cells, possibly by dephosphorylating dynein subunits including DIC.

Bifenthrin Caused Parkinson's-Like Symptoms Via Mitochondrial Autophagy and Ferroptosis Pathway Stereoselectively in Parkin-/- Mice and C57BL/6 Mice.

It has been proposed that pyrethroid exposure contributes to the increasing prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases. However, the potential mechanisms remain unclear. The current study aimed to investigate the effects of the widely used pyrethroid bifenthrin on Parkinson's disease (PD) risk. Bifenthrin (1S-cis-bifenthrin, 1R-cis-bifenthrin, raceme) was administered to male Parkin-/- mice and C57BL/6 mice by oral gavage at a dose of 10mg/kg bw/day for 28days. Bifenthrin exposure significantly increased the time of pole climbing and decreased the period of rotarod running, indicating that bifenthrin decreased motor coordination in Parkin-/- mice, which was more evident by 1S-cis-bifenthrin. Furthermore, administration of bifenthrin induced obvious decreases in tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)+ cell count and the protein expression of TH. Increased protein of mitochondrial autophagy LC3B and p62 was observed after exposure to bifenthrin. Increased iron deposition and protein expression of iron transport transferrin (Tf) and transferrin receptor 2 (TfR2) was detected. 1S-cis-bifenthrin bound with Tf, TfR2, and GPX4 with lower binding energies than 1R-cis-bifenthrin, resulting in stronger interactions with these proteins. These results show structure-dependent PD-like effects of bifenthrin on motor activity and coordination associated with the disturbed mitochondrial autophagy and ferroptosis-related pathway. These data demonstrate that pyrethroid exposure increases the potential of Parkinson's-like symptoms via the ferroptosis pathway in Parkin-/- mice that is more pronounced than in C57BL/6 mice, providing a prospective enantioselective toxic effect of environmental neurotoxins on PD risk.

A Laing distal myopathy-associated proline substitution in the β-myosin rod perturbs myosin cross-bridging activity.

Proline substitutions within the coiled-coil rod region of the β-myosin gene (MYH7) are the predominant mutations causing Laing distal myopathy (MPD1), an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by progressive weakness of distal/proximal muscles. We report that the MDP1 mutation R1500P, studied in what we believe to be the first mouse model for the disease, adversely affected myosin motor activity despite being in the structural rod domain that directs thick filament assembly. Contractility experiments carried out on isolated mutant muscles, myofibrils, and myofibers identified muscle fatigue and weakness phenotypes, an increased rate of actin-myosin detachment, and a conformational shift of the myosin heads toward the more reactive disordered relaxed (DRX) state, causing hypercontractility and greater ATP consumption. Similarly, molecular analysis of muscle biopsies from patients with MPD1 revealed a significant increase in sarcomeric DRX content, as observed in a subset of myosin motor domain mutations causing hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Finally, oral administration of MYK-581, a small molecule that decreases the population of heads in the DRX configuration, significantly improved the limited running capacity of the R1500P-transgenic mice and corrected the increased DRX state of the myofibrils from patients. These studies provide evidence of the molecular pathogenesis of proline rod mutations and lay the groundwork for the therapeutic advancement of myosin modulators.

75. Executive Working Memory Intervention Reduces Motor Activity in Adolescents With Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

75. Executive Working Memory Intervention Reduces Motor Activity in Adolescents With Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Klebsiella pneumoniae alters zebrafish circadian rhythm via inflammatory pathways and is dependent on light cues

Klebsiella pneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen causing severe infections. The circadian rhythm is the internal rhythm mechanism of an organism and plays an important role in coping with changes in the 24-h circadian rhythm. Disruption of the circadian rhythm can lead to immune, behavioral, mental, and other related disorders. Whether K. pneumoniae can disrupt the circadian rhythm after infection remains unclear. Here, we examined the effects of K. pneumoniae NTUH-K2044 infection on biological rhythm and inflammation in zebrafish using behavioral assays, quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR, neutrophil and macrophage transgenic fish, and drug treatment. The results showed that K. pneumoniae infection decreased the motor activity of zebrafish and reduced the circadian rhythm amplitude, phase, and period. The expression of core circadian rhythm-associated genes increased under light-dark conditions, whereas they were downregulated under continuous darkness. Analysis of Klebsiella pneumoniae-mediated inflammation using Tg(mpx:EGFP) and Tg(mpeg:EGFP) transgenic zebrafish, expressing fluorescent neutrophils and macrophages, respectively, showed increased induction of inflammatory cells, upregulated expression of inflammatory factor genes, and stronger inflammatory responses under light-dark conditions. These effects were reversed by the anti-inflammatory drug G6PDi-1, and the expression of clock genes following K. pneumoniae treatment was disrupted. We determined the relationship among K. pneumoniae, inflammation, and the circadian rhythm, providing a theoretical reference for studying circadian rhythm disorders caused by inflammation.

Cognitive-Behavioural Processes During Route Previewing in Bouldering

IntroductionIn the Olympic climbing discipline of bouldering, climbers can preview boulders before actually climbing them. Whilst such pre-climbing route previewing is considered as central to subsequent climbing performance, research on cognitive-behavioural processes during the preparatory phase in the modality of bouldering is lacking. The present study aimed at extending existing findings on neural efficiency processes associated with advanced skill level during motor activity preparation by examining cognitive-behavioural processes during the previewing of boulders. MethodsIntermediate (n = 20), advanced (n = 20), and elite (n = 20) climbers were asked to preview first, and then attempt two boulders of different difficulty levels (boulder 1: advanced difficulty; boulder 2: elite difficulty). During previewing, climbers’ gaze behaviour was gathered using a portable eye-tracker. ResultsLinear regression revealed for both boulders a significant relation between participants’ skill levels and both preview duration and number of scans during previewing. Elite climbers more commonly used a superficial scan path than advanced and intermediate climbers. In the more difficult boulder, both elite and advanced climbers showed longer preview durations, performed more scans, and applied less often a superficial scan path than in the easier boulder. ConclusionFindings revealed that cognitive-behavioural processes during route previewing are associated with climbing expertise and boulder difficulty. Superior domain-specific cognitive proficiency seems to account for the expertise-processing-paradigm in boulder previewing, contributing to faster and more conscious acquisition of perceptual cues, more efficient visual search strategies, and better identification of representative patterns among experts.

Comparison of the effectiveness of correcting the sensory perception of skilled tennis players through auditory deprivation and improving the function of the visual analyzer

Introduction. In the context of the need to search for new means and methods of improving the training process of adolescent tennis players, which are practically exhausted in terms of improving physical fitness and technical skills, a significant pedagogical task arises – to identify the possibility of effective influence on the sensory-perceptual processes of athletes as a factor of sensorimotor coordination of motor actions and cognitive functions. The purpose of the article is to determine the effectiveness and expediency of using two approaches to correcting and improving the sensory perception of tennis players aged 17-18 years – the exclusion of an acoustic stimulus during the game or the inclusion of additional means of influencing the visual analyzer. Methods and materials. The study involved tennis players aged 17-18 years with the first sports category, among 28 athletes who were divided into two groups: the first experimental group (EG-1) included 14 young athletes who practiced for 6 weeks (4 classes per week) according to a program based on hearing deprivation in the classroom. The second group, EG-2, was engaged in using special visual exercises as an out-of-training tool. Methods: literature analysis, pedagogical experiment, instrumental methods (Babolat Pure Drive Play, Eye-Tracking technology), questionnaires, methods of mathematical data processing (descriptive statistics, Student's t-test). Results. During the experiment, it was found that a group of tennis players who were engaged in a training program with the exception of hearing (EG-1) showed the best results in all the studied indicators. In particular, statistically significant differences were obtained between the groups in terms of fixation time at the target object, which improved in EG-1 by 33.7-37.8% (t=4.19-4.28, p&lt;0.01), in EG-2 – by 10.7-11.9% (t=3.26-3.38, p&lt;0.01), intergroup differences were established at t=4.65-4.79, p&lt;0.01. Conclusion. The results obtained indicate that the indirect effect on the sensory perception of qualified tennis players through local sensory deprivation of one of the analyzers – acoustic, as a way to create complicated and variable conditions in the mode of a traditional training session, is more effective, expedient and easy to use, compared with the introduction for the same purposes, out-of-training tools, including direct effect on the visual analyzer using special exercises for the eyes.

Premotor cortical beta synchronization and the network neuromodulation of externally paced finger tapping in Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by the disruption of repetitive, concurrent and sequential motor actions due to compromised timing-functions principally located in cortex-basal ganglia (BG) circuits. Increasing evidence suggests that motor impairments in untreated PD patients are linked to an excessive synchronization of cortex-BG activity at beta frequencies (13–30 Hz). Levodopa and subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) suppress pathological beta-band reverberation and improve the motor symptoms in PD. Yet a dynamic tuning of beta oscillations in BG-cortical loops is fundamental for movement-timing and synchronization, and the impact of PD therapies on sensorimotor functions relying on neural transmission in the beta frequency-range remains controversial. Here, we set out to determine the differential effects of network neuromodulation through dopaminergic medication (ON and OFF levodopa) and STN-DBS (ON-DBS, OFF-DBS) on tapping synchronization and accompanying cortical activities. To this end, we conducted a rhythmic finger-tapping study with high-density EEG-recordings in 12 PD patients before and after surgery for STN-DBS and in 12 healthy controls. STN-DBS significantly ameliorated tapping parameters as frequency, amplitude and synchrony to the given auditory rhythms. Aberrant neurophysiologic signatures of sensorimotor feedback in the beta-range were found in PD patients: their neural modulation was weaker, temporally sluggish and less distributed over the right cortex in comparison to controls. Levodopa and STN-DBS boosted the dynamics of beta-band modulation over the right hemisphere, hinting to an improved timing of movements relying on tactile feedback. The strength of the post-event beta rebound over the supplementary motor area correlated significantly with the tapping asynchrony in patients, thus indexing the sensorimotor match between the external auditory pacing signals and the performed taps. Following STN-DBS surgery, the magnitude of the post-event beta rebound was negatively correlated with the estimated volume of tissue activated of the zona incerta. PD patients showed an excessive interhemispheric coherence in the beta-frequency range during the finger-tapping task, while under DBS-ON the cortico-cortical connectivity in the beta-band was normalized. Ultimately, therapeutic DBS significantly ameliorated the auditory-motor coupling of PD patients, enhancing the electrophysiological processing of sensorimotor feedback-information related to beta-band activity, and thus allowing a more precise cued-tapping performance.

Ultraflexible electrodes for recording neural activity in the mouse spinal cord during motor behavior

Ultraflexible electrodes for recording neural activity in the mouse spinal cord during motor behavior

Manganese Overexposure Alters Neurogranin Expression and Causes Behavioral Deficits in Larval Zebrafish.

Manganese (Mn), a cofactor for various enzyme classes, is an essential trace metal for all organisms. However, overexposure to Mn causes neurotoxicity. Here, we evaluated the effects of exposure to Mn chloride (MnCl2) on viability, morphology, synapse function (based on neurogranin expression) and behavior of zebrafish larvae. MnCl2 exposure from 2.5 h post fertilization led to reduced survival (60%) at 5 days post fertilization. Phenotypical changes affected body length, eye and olfactory organ size, and visual background adaptation. This was accompanied by a decrease in both the fluorescence intensity of neurogranin immunostaining and expression levels of the neurogranin-encoding genes nrgna and nrgnb, suggesting the presence of synaptic alterations. Furthermore, overexposure to MnCl2 resulted in larvae exhibiting postural defects, reduction in motor activity and impaired preference for light environments. Following the removal of MnCl2 from the fish water, zebrafish larvae recovered their pigmentation pattern and normalized their locomotor behavior, indicating that some aspects of Mn neurotoxicity are reversible. In summary, our results demonstrate that Mn overexposure leads to pronounced morphological alterations, changes in neurogranin expression and behavioral impairments in zebrafish larvae.