Motor Learning Based on Oscillatory Brain Activity Using Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation: A Review

Developing effective tools and strategies to promote motor learning is a high-priority scientific and clinical goal. In particular, motor-related areas have been investigated as potential targets to facilitate motor learning by noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS). In addition to shedding light on the relationship between motor function and oscillatory brain activity, transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), which can noninvasively entrain oscillatory brain activity and modulate oscillatory brain communication, has attracted attention as a possible technique to promote motor learning. This review focuses on the use of tACS to enhance motor learning through the manipulation of oscillatory brain activity and its potential clinical applications. We discuss a potential tACS-based approach to ameliorate motor deficits by correcting abnormal oscillatory brain activity and promoting appropriate oscillatory communication in patients after stroke or with Parkinson\u27s disease. Interpersonal tACS approaches to manipulate intra- and inter-brain communication may result in pro-social effects and could promote the teaching-learning process during rehabilitation sessions with a therapist. The approach of re-establishing oscillatory brain communication through tACS could be effective for motor recovery and might eventually drive the design of new neurorehabilitation approaches based on motor learning

In Situ Hybridization Techniques for Electron Microscopy

In order for messenger RNA (mRNA) to be localized in cells and tissues by in situ hybridization at the electron microscopic level, the following conditions must be accomplished. The target mRNA must be retained in the specimen with well-preserved morphology. The labeled-nucleic acid probes must be accessible to the mRNA and make hybrids with the mRNA efficiently. The labels should be detectable by either transmission or scanning electron microscopes. To achieve these, appropriate techniques for the electron microscopic in situ hybridization (EMISH) for the target mRNA were developed and have been improved. This review will describe representative procedures of EMISH of mRNA and will make some comments on the procedures

Effect of Cathodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on a Child with Involuntary Movement after Hypoxic Encephalopathy

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation to the supplementary motor area to inhibit involuntary movements of a child. An 8-year-old boy who developed hypoxic encephalopathy after asphyxia at the age of 2 had difficulty in remaining standing without support because of involuntary movements. He was instructed to remain standing with his plastic ankle-foot orthosis for 10 s at three time points by leaning forward with his forearms on a desk. He received cathodal or sham transcranial direct current stimulation to the supplementary motor area at 1 mA for 10 min. Involuntary movements during standing were measured using an accelerometer attached to his forehead. The low-frequency power of involuntary movements during cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation significantly decreased compared with that during sham stimulation. No adverse effects were observed. Involuntary movement reduction by cathodal stimulation to supplementary motor areas suggests that stimulations modulated the corticobasal ganglia motor circuit. Cathodal stimulation to supplementary motor areas may be effective for reducing involuntary movements and may be safely applied to children with movement disorders

Three Dimensional Motion Control System of Ferromagnetic Particles for Magnetically Targeted Drug Delivery Systems

The development of a 3-dimensional (3-D) navigation system of ferromagnetic particles in a flow system was performed. In order to improve the practice of using externally-applied magnetic fields for targeting the magnetic particles to a circumscribed body region, we tested the feasibility of a novel 3-D navigation system, made by applying a strong external (magnetic) field through a GdBaCuO bulk superconductor. A 3-D theoretical model is proposed and used in order to evaluate the efficiency of the navigation/retention of magnetic particles in the flow system. Furthermore, an experimental model system was made and the efficiency of a prototype system was examined. Comparisons of experimental and the corresponding calculation results were made to examine the theoretical model system

An Alternative Approach for Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation for Intra-atrial Reentrant Tachycardia Associated with Open-Heart Surgery

We present case reports of 2 patients with scar-related intra-atrial reentrant tachycardia (IART) associated with previous open-heart surgeries, in which standard ablation strategies failed to eliminate atrial tachycardia (AT). The strategies targeted a narrow conducting channel between the right atrial scars or between the scar and inferior vena cava. In these patients, an alternative approach to transect another narrow conducting pathway between the scar and crista terminalis (CT), which was revealed by a noncontact mapping system, successfully terminated and eliminated the IART. Both the cases were free of recurrent AT at the 24-and 25-month follow up visits, respectively. Transection of the corridor between the CT and the incision scar appears to be an effective technique for eliminating scar-related IART and can be considered as a second-line procedure for radiofrequency catheter ablation to eliminate IART