Changes in somatosensory evoked responses by repetition of the median nerve stimulation

OBJECTIVE: We investigate the synaptic factor for the recovery function of evoked responses using a repetitive stimulation technique. METHODS: Somatosensory evoked cortical magnetic field (SEF) was recorded following stimulation of the median nerve using single to 6-train stimulation in 8 healthy subjects. The SEF responses after each stimulus in the train stimulation were extracted by subtraction of the waveforms. RESULTS: An attenuation of the SEF components was recognized after the second of the stimuli, but there was no significant attenuation with the third or later stimulations. The root mean square (RMS) of the 1M (peak latency at 20 ms after stimulation) and 4M (70 ms) components were smaller than that of the single stimulation during the train stimulation, while the 2M (30 ms) and 3M (45 ms) components were not attenuated, but the 3M was facilitated at the fourth to sixth stimulation. CONCLUSION: The synaptic factor was not responsible for the attenuation of the SEF components during repetitive stimulation in healthy subjects. The SEF change disclosed a functional difference among the SEF components during the train stimulation, especially among the later components.     

Task-specific magnetic fields from the left human frontal cortex

Summary In this study we attempted to extend our previous results on regional specialization of frontal cortical function in humans, by means of magnetoencephalography (MEG). We used a verbal task and predicted that some part of the left frontal lobe would be active during engagement in that task, since the left hemisphere is known to be implicated in language. We did not require a motor response because in previous experiments we observed bilateral frontal magnetic activity, and we suspected that it was due to the addition of movement-related fields to our recordings. Six right handed subjects (three males and three females) participated in the study. The task consisted in silently counting the number of word pairs that matched with respect to semantic category. Experimental runs were composed by series of 120 trials or word pairs. All six subjects presented dipolar magnetic field distributions on the left fronto-temporal area of the scalp, but not on the right, during different portions of the trial duration. These fields were successfully modeled as equivalent current dipoles (ECDs). The spatial ECD coordinates were translated onto magnetic resonance image (MRI) coordinates for each subject. The dipole positions were typically near the cortical surface corresponding to areas 6 and 44 of Brodmann. No dipole-like sources were observed in the right frontal lobe.This research was supported by grant NS 29540-005A1 from the National Institutes of Health, Washington, D.C.     

Activation of the human posterior parietal cortex by median nerve stimulation

We recorded somatosensory evoked magnetic fields from ten healthy, right-handed subjects with a 122-channel whole-scalp SQUID magnetometer. The stimuli, exceeding the motor threshold, were delivered alternately to the left and right median nerves at the wrists, with interstimulus intervals of 1, 3, and 5 s. The first responses, peaking around 20 and 35 ms, were explained by activation of the contralateral primary somatosensory cortex (SI) hand area. All subjects showed additional deflections which peaked after 85 ms; the source locations agreed with the sites of the secondary somatosensory cortices (SII) in both hemispheres. The SII responses were typically stronger in the left than the right hemisphere. All subjects had an additional source, not previously reported in human evoked response data, in the contralateral parietal cortex. This source was posterior and medial to the SI hand area, and evidently in the wall of the postcentral sulcus. It was most active at 70–110 ms.     

Lateralization of Cerebral Activation in Auditory Verbal and Non-Verbal Memory Tasks Using Magnetoencephalography

The magnetic flux normal to the scalp surface was measured with a whole-head neuromagnetometer while right-handed subjects (N = 15) were engaged in either an auditory word- or a tone-recognition task. Sources of the recorded magnetic fields were modeled as equivalent current dipoles at 4 ms intervals and the number of sources in the later portion of the magnetic response was used as an index of the degree of brain activation. Significantly more sources were found in the left as compared to the right hemisphere in the word but not the tone task on a group basis. On an individual basis, 13/15 subjects had more sources in the left as compared to the right hemisphere during the word task, while in the tone task 3/10 subjects showed this pattern. Sources of activity were found in the left superior and middle temporal gyri in all subjects with available MRI scans. Sources were also found in the supramarginal gyrus and in medial temporal areas, including the hippocampus, in the majority of cases. MEG appears to be a promising tool for detecting activity in cerebral areas specialized for language and memory function.     

Responses to Median and Tibial Nerve Stimulation in Patients with Chronic Neuropathic Pain

Somatosensory evoked magnetic fields and electrical potentials were measured in eight patients with unilateral neuropathic pain. After median nerve stimulation on the painful side, the amplitudes of the evoked responses were enhanced 2 to 3 times at a latency of about 100 ms compared to the responses of the contralateral, unaffected side. After posterior tibial nerve stimulation an enhancement was found at latencies around 110 ms and 150 ms. The scalp distribution of the magnetic field at the latencies of abnormal responses was dipolar and the responses could be ascribed to a current dipole. Three (of the eight) patients underwent spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for their pain. The enhancement of the evoked responses to stimulation of the painful side decreased after spinal cord stimulation. After a long period of spinal cord stimulation only (e.g., a year) during which the patient reported to be pain free, these abnormal responses were no longer observed.     

Atypical organisation of the auditory cortex in dyslexia as revealed by MEG

Neuroanatomical and -radiological studies have converged to suggest an atypical organisation in the temporal bank of the left-hemispheric Sylvian fissure for dyslexia. Against the background of this finding, we applied high temporal resolution magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate functional aspects of the left-hemispheric auditory cortex in 11 right-handed dyslexic children (aged 8–13 years) and nine matched normal subjects (aged 8–14 years). Event-related field components during a passive oddball paradigm with pure tones and consonant–vowel syllables were evaluated. The first major peak of the auditory evoked response, the M80, showed identical topographical distributions in both groups. In contrast, the generating brain structures of the later M210 component were located more anterior to the earlier response in children with dyslexia only. Control children exhibited the expected activation of more posterior source locations of the component that appeared later in the processing stream. Since the group difference in the relative location of the M210 source seemed to be independent of stimulus category, it is concluded that dyslexics and normally literate children differ as to the organisation of their left-hemispheric auditory cortex.     

应用磁源性影像对健康青年人大脑听觉皮层功能区定位的初步研究

目的　探讨磁源性影像在大脑听觉皮层功能区定位的应用价值。方法　应用全头型30 6通道生物磁仪 ,对 30例健康青年人 (2 0～ 32岁 )男 16例 ,女 14例进行了大脑听皮层诱发磁场的测试 ,5例观察了 0 5、1、2、4、8kHz纯音诱发的脑磁反应波M10 0 ,另 2 5例均测试了 2kHz纯音诱发的脑磁反应波M10 0 ,并将脑磁图的电生理资料与磁共振成像的解剖结构资料叠加 ,获得大脑听觉皮层磁源性影像 ,以确定M10 0在大脑初级听觉皮层的位置。结果　 30例受试者均可诱发出M10 0 ,且重复性好 ,其位置均位于大脑的颞横回 ;不同频率的纯音诱发的M10 0在大脑颞横回有其各自的定位和分布 ;初级听觉皮层在两侧大脑半球的位置相对而言左侧靠后 ,右侧靠前 ,两侧明显不对称。M10 0潜伏期在左侧和右侧大脑半球对侧声刺激均较同侧声刺激为短 ,但M10 0等电流偶极的位置与刺激声的侧别无关。结论　由脑磁图的M10 0所获得的磁源性影像 ,具有良好的时间和空间分辨率 ,可对大脑初级听皮层功能区进行精确定位 ,将在耳科学的临床和基础研究中具有广阔的应用前景。     

Headache-related circuits and high frequencies evaluated by EEG,MRI, PET as potential biomarkers to differentiate chronic and episodic migraine: Evidence from a systematic review

BackgroundThe diagnosis of migraine is mainly clinical and self-reported, which makes additional examinations unnecessary in most cases. Migraine can be subtyped into chronic (CM) and episodic (EM). Despite the very high prevalence of migraine, there are no evidence-based guidelines for differentiating between these subtypes other than the number of days of migraine headache per month. Thus, we consider it timely to perform a systematic review to search for physiological evidence from functional activity (as opposed to anatomical structure) for the differentiation between CM and EM, as well as potential functional biomarkers. For this purpose, Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, and PubMed databases were screened.FindingsAmong the 24 studies included in this review, most of them (22) reported statistically significant differences between the groups of CM and EM. This finding is consistent regardless of brain activity acquisition modality, ictal stage, and recording condition for a wide variety of analyses. That speaks for a supramodal and domain-general differences between CM and EM that goes beyond a differentiation based on the days of migraine per month. Together, the reviewed studies demonstrates that electro- and magneto-physiological brain activity (M/EEG), as well as neurovascular and metabolic recordings from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), show characteristic patterns that allow to differentiate between CM and EM groups.ConclusionsAlthough a clear brain activity-based biomarker has not yet been identified to distinguish these subtypes of migraine, research is approaching headache specialists to a migraine diagnosis based not only on symptoms and signs reported by patients. Future studies based on M/EEG should pay special attention to the brain activity in medium and fast frequency bands, mainly the beta band. On the other hand, fMRI and PET studies should focus on neural circuits and regions related to pain and emotional processing.     

磁源性影像对母语为汉语者语言皮质定位的研究

目的 确定磁源性影像(MSI)对汉字处理脑皮质的定位价值。方法 对8例右利手及1例左利手母语为汉语的健康受试者给予双耳纯音及词义相关和不相关的成对汉字刺激。由脑磁图(MEG)设备记录刺激后产生的听觉诱发磁场。对采集的数据分别按照纯音、词义相关成对汉字及词义不相关成对汉字产生的反应进行叠加。将MEG资料叠加到MRI上获得MSI。结果 所有受试者左、右半球均诱导出2个明显高的磁反应波M50、M100。M50及M100均定位于双侧颞横回。同一受试者同侧半球对词义相关的成对汉字及不相关成对汉字的反应波近似。1例左利手受试者右侧半球在300～600ms有明显高的波峰，而左侧半球无此波峰。其MSI显示语言区位于Wernicke区。2例右利手受试者双侧半球均出现明显的300—600ms磁反应波。提示这2例受试者语言区位于双侧半球。其MSI显示语言区位于Wernicke区。6例右利手受试者双侧半球均诱导出潜伏期300～600ms的反应波，但左侧半球波幅明显高于右侧半球。这6例受试者MSI显示，语言区均定位于颞上回后部及颞中回后部，即Wernicke区。结论 比较左、右两侧半球磁反应晚成分(潜伏期300～600ms的反应波)，优势半球波幅明显高于非优势半球。对词义相关及不相关的成对汉字进行判断均能够确定大脑优势半球语言皮质的位置。     

抑郁症患者识别喜悦表情前额叶-杏仁核最优效能连接模式探究

目的探究抑郁症患者在识别喜悦表情时前额叶．杏仁核最优效能连接模式,并以此探讨抑郁症前额叶-杏仁核情绪加工可能的异常机制。方法利用脑磁图检测20例抑郁症患者及20例相匹配的健康对照者在识别动态面部表情时的脑部反应。通过动态因果模型方法选出最优模型,并比较抑郁症组及对照组的效能连接变化。结果贝叶斯模型选择结果显示,总体最优模型的特征是背外侧前额叶、前扣带回、杏仁核两两存在自上而下的调节连接,模型超越概率为0．41。最优模型中固有连接水平出现组间差异,在固有连接水平上,抑郁症组右侧杏仁核-前扣带回的前向连接显著减弱（t=-2．50,P=0．016）,前扣带回-背外侧前额叶的前向连接显著增强（t=2．37,P=0．022）,杏仁核-背外侧前额前向连接显著增强（t=2．10,P=0．04）。结论抑郁症患者右侧半球自下而上的固有连接异常,可能与抑郁症患者负性偏向有关;而抑郁症患者处理喜悦面孔时前额叶-杏仁核调制连接并未出现明显异常。