Corticospinal excitability during laughter: implications for cataplexy and the comparison with REM sleep atonia

Cataplexy is usually seen as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep atonia occurring at an inopportune moment. REM sleep atonia is the result of postsynaptic inhibition, i.e. inhibition of alpha motor neurones. Although this may explain the suppression of H-reflexes during REM sleep, cataplexy and laughter, it is not the only explanation. Presynaptic inhibition, in which afferent impulses are prevented from reaching motor neurones, is an alternative. Testing H-reflexes and magnetic-evoked potentials (MEPs) helps to tell them apart: in postsynaptic inhibition MEPs and H-reflexes change in tandem, while H-reflexes may decrease independent of MEPs with other inhibition modes. We studied motor inhibition during laughter, the strongest trigger for cataplexy. H-reflexes were evoked every 2 s in the soleus muscle in 10 healthy subjects watching comical video fragments. MEPs were evoked when H-reflexes decreased during laughter, and, as a control, when subjects did not laugh. Pairs of MEPs and the immediately preceding H-reflexes were studied. Compared with the control condition, laughter caused mean MEP area to increase by 60% (P=0.006) and mean H-reflex amplitude to decrease by 33% (P=0.008). This pattern proves that postsynaptic inhibition cannot have been the sole influence. The findings do not prove which mechanisms are involved; one possibility is that the decrease in H-reflex amplitude was the result of presynaptic inhibition, and that cortical and/or spinal facilitation accounted for increased MEPs. Regardless, the pattern differs fundamentally from the reported mechanism of REM sleep atonia. Existing scanty data on cataplexy suggest a pattern of H-reflexes and MEPs similar to that during laughter, but this needs further study.     

Suppression of charge movement by calcium antagonists is not related to calcium channel block

The calcium channel-inhibiting drugs nitrendipine and diltiazem represent two important classes of organic calcium antagonists. In the present study, the effect of these drugs on calcium currents and charge displacement currents in bullfrog semitendinosus muscle fibers was examined using a vaseline gap voltage clamp. Nitrendipine (10 M) reduced the quantity of charge that moved both during the ON phase (Q_ON) and the OFF phase (Q_OFF) of charge movement. This action appeared to be most selective for Q_ON. However, at this same concentration, nitrendipine had no blocking action on inward calcium currents. In contrast to these findings, diltiazem blocked calcium currents in a concentration-dependent manner, while slightly increasing the quantity of charge moved during Q_ON and Q_OFF. The enhancement of charge movement by diltiazem resulted from two actions. First, diltiazem shifted the voltage-dependence of charge movement to more negative potentials. Second, diltiazem increased the maximum amount of charge moved. (Supported by NIH NS 03178 and HL 07382.)     

人行走时骨盆上下运动参数的模型分析

为了研究正常人行走过程中骨盆在垂直方向的运动特征,提出了一种以测量数据为基础建立骨盆运动参数数学模型的新思想。介绍了基于跑步机的骨盆运动轨迹测量系统,并对30名健康男性青年进行了获取骨盆运动参数的实验研究。实验结果得到了不同受试者分别以不同速度行走时的骨盆在垂直方向的多组运动轨迹,以及运动幅值、周期、初始相位等与行走速度和受试者身高的关系曲线。通过对曲线拟合,建立了各参数及骨盆运动轨迹的数学模型。通过对该模型进一步完善,可使其对康复评定、类人机器人等领域具有一定的应用价值。     

Compensation for distal impairments of grasping in adults with hemiparesis

Previous studies have shown that patients with arm and hand paresis following stroke recruit an additional degree of freedom (the trunk) to transport the hand during reaching and use alternative strategies for grasping. The few studies of grasping parameters of the impaired hand have been case studies mainly focusing on describing grasping in the presence of particular impairments such as hemi-neglect or optic ataxia and have not focussed on the role of the trunk in prehension. We hypothesized that the trunk movement not only ensures the transport of the hand to the object, but it also assists in orienting the hand for grasping when distal deficits are present. Nineteen patients with chronic hemiparesis and seven healthy subjects participated in the study. Patients had sustained a stroke of non-traumatic origin 6–82 months previously (31±22 months) and had mild or moderate to severe arm paresis. Using a whole hand grasp, subjects reached and grasped a cylinder (35 mm) that was placed sagittally (T1) or at a 45° angle to the sagittal midline in the ipsilateral workspace (T2), both at about 90% arms length (10 trials per target). Eight infrared emitting diodes were placed on bony landmarks of the hand, arm and trunk and kinematic data were recorded by an optical motion analysis system (Optotrak) for 2–5 s at 120 Hz. Hand position and orientation were recorded by a Fastrack Polhemus system. Our results show that during goal-directed prehension tasks, individuals with hemiparesis oriented the hand more frontally for grasping and used more trunk anterior displacement or rotation to transport the hand to the target compared to healthy subjects. Despite these changes, the major characteristics of reaching and grasping such as grip aperture size, temporal coordination between hand transport and aperture formation and the relative timing of grip aperture were largely preserved. For patients with more severe distal impairments, the amount of trunk displacement was also correlated with a more frontal hand orientation for grasping. Furthermore, in healthy subjects and patients without distal impairments, the trunk movement was mostly related to proximal arm movements while in those with distal impairments, trunk movement was related to both proximal and distal arm movements. Data support the hypothesis that the trunk movement is used to assist both arm transport and hand orientation for grasping when distal deficits are present.     

Mediastinal lymphatic efferents from the diaphragm

The prognosis of non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) invading the diaphragm is poor, probably due to the richness of the lymphatic drainage of the diaphragm. The aim of this study was to determine mediastinal lymphatic efferents from the diaphragm. The diaphragms of 20 adult cadavers (77-104 years) were injected with a dye (modified Gerota's medium) to permit the lymph vessels to be catheterised and then dissected. Each stage of the dissection was described and photographed: 23 injections on the right and 25 on the left. Diaphragmatic lymph vessels passed to one of three lymph centres: posterior (paraaortic nodes, n = 16), anterior (juxtasternal nodes, n = 16) and mediastinal (visceral nodes, n = 16). From these lymph centres arose ascending lymph pathways: posteriorly to the thoracic duct (8/16), anteriorly along the internal thoracic vessels (10/16) and in the mediastinum to the peritracheobronchial nodes (6/10). Lymphatics from the diaphragm are abundant and drain towards mediastinal node lymph centres connecting to the blood stream via the thoracic duct. These lymph pathways are common with those of the pulmonary segments. Poor prognosis of NSCLC invading the diaphragm may be explained by the common lymphatic drainage of both the lung and diaphragm.     

视网膜祖细胞干细胞特性及移植入视网膜后的研究

目的：研究视网膜祖细胞的干细胞特性及移植入视网膜后的存活和迁移。方法：体外培养胎龄18d 大鼠的视网膜细胞,用 RT-PCR、细胞免疫荧光方法鉴定其增殖分化；成年 SD 大鼠腹腔注射 N-甲基-N-亚硝基脲形成视网膜感光细胞退化的动物模型,培养的视网膜祖细胞用 CM-Di(?) 标记后,移植入模型鼠的玻璃体腔。结果：视网膜祖细胞体外表达中间神经丝蛋白 nestin；表达 Flk-1、Pax6及 Notchl 的 mRNA；能掺入 BrdU；分化后表达视网膜各类细胞特异性蛋白；移植后在实验组大鼠视网膜能存活及迁移,而在对照组中仅聚集在玻璃体腔。结论：视网膜祖细胞具有干细胞特性,移植入受损伤视网膜后,能存活、整合及迁移。     

The involvement of glutamatergic transmission in the mechanism of movement disorders induced by reversive rotation of white mice

The ability of the selective non-competitive NMDA receptor blocker MK-801 and a series of new glutamate antagonists—the adamantane derivatives IEM-1754 and IEM-1857 and phencyclidine (IEM-1925)—to prevent movement disorders induced by reversive rotation in mice was studied. I.p. MK-801 at a dose of 0.15 ml and IEM-1754 at a dose of 5.0 mg/kg prevented the development of akinesia in response to reversive rotation, as effectively as scopolamine, a known agent which provides effective prophylaxis for movement diseases. IEM-1857, the quaternary analog of IEM-1754, was not effective. IEM-1925 significantly increased the responses of mice to reversive rotation, possibly because of its high activity in relation to other subtypes of glutamate receptors. These data provide evidence for the involvement of glutamatergic transmission in the mechanism of movement disorders of vestibular origin. Translated from Rossiiskii Fiziologicheskii Zhurnal imeni I. M. Sechenova, Vol. 85, No. 4, pp. 497–501, May, 1999.     

Hitting moving objects: is target speed used in guiding the hand?

We investigated what information subjects use when trying to hit moving targets. In particular, whether only visual information about the target's position is used to guide the hand to the place of interception or also information about its speed. Subjects hit targets that moved at different constant speeds and disappeared from view after varying amounts of time. This prevented the subjects from updating position information during the time that the target was invisible. Subjects hit further ahead of the disappearing point when the target moved faster, but not as much as they should have on the basis of the target's speed. This could be because more time is needed to perceive and use the correct speed than was available before the target disappeared. It could also be due to a speed-related misperception of the target's final position. The results of a second experiment were more consistent with the latter hypothesis. In a third experiment we moved the background to manipulate the perceived speed. This did not affect the hitting positions. We conclude that subjects respond only to the changing target position. Target speed influences the direction in which the hand moves indirectly, possibly via a speed-related misperception of position.     

Activity of primate putamen neurons is selective to the mode of voluntary movement: visually guided,self-initiated or memory-guided

Summary The aim of this report was to investigate the neural processes of movement initiation and control in which the basal ganglia play an essential role. Single-neuron activity was recorded in the putamen of monkeys performing learned arm movements initiated in three different modes: sensorially guided, internally-timed self-initiated and memory guided. There were no significant differences in the magnitude and timing of both prime mover and supporting muscle activity between the three modes of movement. Over half of the task-related neurons showed strong activity in one of the three modes of movement initiation, but were only slightly activated in the other two modes. No clear preference for a particular movement mode was evident in the population of putamen neurons as a whole. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that there are heterogeneous groups of neurons in the putamen, and that each group of neurons participates in retrieving a different kind of information required for movement based on either external sensory events or on internally stored information.     

Failure to demonstrate early metabolic changes in weanling growth-retarded hypophagic rats with lesions in the dorsomedial hypothalamic nuclei

Experiment 1: Weanling male rats received bilateral electrolytic lesions in the dorsomedial hypothalamic nuclei (DMNL rats); sham-operated animals served as controls. Rats were killed four hours and three and seven days postoperatively (post-op). Plasma was obtained and epididymal fat pads, diaphragm and liver aliquots were harvested and the in vitro incorporation of U-14C-glucose into CO2, glycogen, lipid and saponifiable fatty acids (FAs) were measured. Body weight, carcass lipid and food intake were significantly lower in DMNL rats than in controls. The only significant lesion-induced metabolic changes were hypoglycemia and greater tracer incorporation into epididymal fat pad lipid and diaphragm glycogen. Both DMNL rats and controls showed similar time courses of tracer incorporation into epididymal CO2 and FAs, diaphragm lipid and liver CO2, glycogen, lipid and FAs. Lesioned rats also showed more pronounced decreases of tracer incorporation from day 0 to day 3 in epididymal glycogen and lipid and diaphragm CO2 and glycogen. These data make it appear unlikely that very early deficits in glucose metabolism are the cause of the growth retardation seen in long-term studies with DMNL rats. The data also demonstrate considerable locus specificity, since weanling rats with ventromedial hypothalamic lesions (VMNL rats) in similar short-term studies have shown dramatic alterations in the above parameters. Experiment 2: Weanling DMNL rats and sham-operated rats were injected via tail vein with tritiated water one hour post-op. One hour after the injection they were decapitated. There were no significant differences between DMNL rats and controls in mumoles tritiated water incorporated into total liver, grams liver tissue, mg liver glycogen and ml or mg plasma glucose.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)