Imaging of Dentate Nucleus Pathologies: A Case Series

The dentate nucleus is the largest cerebellar nucleus, and it controls cognition and voluntary movement. It is found in each cerebellar hemisphere medially and posterolateral to the lateral ventricle. Pathologies of the dentate nucleus can be detected using computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. Here, we present a case series of seven different dentate nucleus diseases and their neuroimaging findings recovered from archives of our institution.

M1 dynamics share similar inputs for initiating and correcting movement

Motor cortex is integral to generating voluntary movement commands. However, as a dynamical system, it is unclear how motor cortical movement commands are informed by either new or sensory-driven corrective instructions. Here, we examine population activity in the primary motor cortex of macaques during a continuous, sequential arm movement task in which the movement instruction is updated several times over the course of a trial. We use Latent Factor Analysis via Dynamical Systems (LFADS) to decompose population activity into a portion explainable via dynamics, and a stream of inferred inputs required to instruct that dynamical system. The time series of inferred inputs had several surprising properties. First, input timing was more strongly locked to target appearance than to movement onset, suggesting that variable reaction times may be a function of how inputs interact with ongoing dynamics rather than variability in instruction timing. Second, inferred inputs were tuned nearly identically for both initial and corrective movements, suggesting a commonality in the structure of inputs across visually-instructed and corrective movements that was previously obscured by the complexity of the dynamical system that is M1.

A Statewide Voluntary Movement Addressing the Shortage of Medical Supplies During the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a shortage of personal protective equipment compromised efficient patient care and provider safety. Volunteers from many different backgrounds worked to meet these demands. Additive manufacturing, laser cutting, and alternative supply chains were used to produce, test, and deliver essential equipment for health care workers and first responders. Distributed equipment included ear guards, face shields, and masks. Contingent designs were created for powered air-purifying respirator hoods, filtered air pumps, intubation shields, and N95 masks.

Formation of a Novel Supraspinal-Spinal Connectome that Relearns the Same Motor Task after Complete Paralysis

Electrical spinal cord stimulation enables paraplegic patients to regain voluntary leg movement. This treatment was only intended to engage local spinal networks to facilitate basic standing and postural stabilization without supraspinal input. Therefore the mechanism(s) enabling voluntary movement are unknown. Here we developed the first conditioned behavioral paradigm in rats for studying the recovery of voluntary movement after a paralyzing spinal injury and characterize the recovered neural connection. Rats were trained to kick their right hindlimb in response to an auditory cue. The rats then received a mid-thoracic spinal cord injury, causing hindlimb paralysis. After which, the rats were treated with spinal electro-neuromodulation across the lumbosacral enlargement. Two months after injury, spinal electro-neuromodulation enabled the rats to recover the trained behavior. Stopping or starting the electro-neuromodulation immediately abolished or facilitated recovery. Quipazine (nonspecific 5HT agonist) selectively abolished this recovered voluntary movement. Our work demonstrates a previously unknown highly specific reorganization phenomenon that can functionally reconnect the most distant neural structures. The interference of quipazine suggests the recovery mechanisms differ from those traditionally studied using electro-neuromodulation to recover postural and locomotor functions, and the speed of recovery of this conditioned behavior when electro-neuromodulation was applied proves these mechanisms are engaged within seconds of treatment.

VOLUNTEERING AS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN THE CONSOLIDATION OF SOCIETY

Рассмотрена волонтерская деятельность как фактор консолидации современного общества. Показано, что добровольческое движение может уравновешивать инновации и традиции предшествующих поколений, сохранившиеся в народной памяти и представляющие собой механизмы духовно-нравственного измерения социально-политических процессов. Сделан вывод, что добровольческая безвозмездная деятельность во благо страны и общества может стать основой консолидирующей идеи, указывающей на пути выхода России из кризиса, стабилизации новых общественных отношений, в торжестве таких институтов демократии, как гласность, политические права и свободы. Механизм трансформации интересов и устремлений различных масс в реальную помощь неминуемо призывает к консолидации всех прогрессивных сторон. The article is devoted to volunteer activity as a factor of consolidation of modern society. It is shown that the voluntary movement can balance the innovations and traditions of previous generations, preserved in the national’s memory and representing the mechanisms of the spiritual and moral dimension of socio-political processes. It is concluded that voluntary gratuitous activity for the benefit of the country and society can become the basis of a consolidating idea that points to the ways out of the crisis in Russia, the stabilization of new social relations, in the triumph of such democratic institutions as public, political rights and freedoms. The mechanism of transforming the interests and aspirations of various masses into real help inevitably calls for the consolidation of all progressive parties.

Temporal Dynamics of Corticomuscular Coherence Reflects Alteration of the Central Mechanisms of Neural Motor Control in Post-Stroke Patients

The neural control of muscular activity during a voluntary movement implies a continuous updating of a mix of afferent and efferent information. Corticomuscular coherence (CMC) is a powerful tool to explore the interactions between the motor cortex and the muscles involved in movement realization. The comparison of the temporal dynamics of CMC between healthy subjects and post-stroke patients could provide new insights into the question of how agonist and antagonist muscles are controlled related to motor performance during active voluntary movements. We recorded scalp electroencephalography activity, electromyography signals from agonist and antagonist muscles, and upper limb kinematics in eight healthy subjects and seventeen chronic post-stroke patients during twenty repeated voluntary elbow extensions and explored whether the modulation of the temporal dynamics of CMC could contribute to motor function impairment. Concomitantly with the alteration of elbow extension kinematics in post-stroke patients, dynamic CMC analysis showed a continuous CMC in both agonist and antagonist muscles during movement and highlighted that instantaneous CMC in antagonist muscles was higher for post-stroke patients compared to controls during the acceleration phase of elbow extension movement. In relation to motor control theories, our findings suggest that CMC could be involved in the online control of voluntary movement through the continuous integration of sensorimotor information. Moreover, specific alterations of CMC in antagonist muscles could reflect central command alterations of the selectivity in post-stroke patients.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) measures and voluntary motor function

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can be viewed as interacting with voluntary movement in two ways: it can used to probe the excitability of central nervous system (CNS) pathways before, during, and after a movement; alternatively, it can be used to interfere with movement and give information about the role of different cortical areas in different aspects of a task. This chapter concentrates on the role of single and paired pulse TMS methods that have been covered in detail in previous chapters. Long lasting effects of repetitive TMS (rTMS) are described in later chapters. Almost all of the TMS measures described in previous chapters differ in subjects at rest and during tonic voluntary activity.

ANALISIS USABILITY SITUS WEB VOCABULARY CONTROL NUSANTARA MENGGUNAKAN METODE WEBUSE

Vocabulary Control Nusantara Website is a voluntary movement that focused work on developing the index language automation system web-based, which is everyone can contribute to the development of site content. From the beginning of the movement until now Vocabulary Control Nusantara Website still in the development stage and no assessment evaluates the level of usability of the website. Therefore, usability analysis is needed to measure the level usability of the Vocabulary Control Nusantara Website and also to predict the potential benefits which will be obtained later when this movement complete. This study does a usability analysis on the homepage and backend page of the Vocabulary Control Nusantara Website by using the WEBUSE method to measure how good the level usability website. The analysis results show on the homepage page get the level usability “Good”, although there are two categories on the backend page which gets the level usability “Moderate”. Besides, there are some unsolved problems that are recommended to further testing and implementation redesign websites.