IntroductionSimilarities in morphology, physiological function, and neurophysiological findings between median and ulnar nerves are not unequivocal. Our previous study confirmed differences in motor fiber parameters between these nerves in healthy persons. We made an attempt to assess and compare the physiological parameters of different sensation modalities in median and ulnar nerves.MethodsThe study was performed in 31 healthy, right-handed volunteers: 17 women, 14 men, mean age 44.8 ± 15.5 years. Standard sensory conduction tests in the median and ulnar nerves were performed (...) together with the estimation of vibratory, temperature, and warm- and cold-induced pain thresholds in the C7 and C8 dermatomes on the palm, using quantitative sensory testing.ResultsThere were no statistically significant differences in the standard sensory conduction test in the median and ulnar nerves across the whole group: between right and left hands, and between women and men. We revealed differences in the temperature and pain thresholds between these nerves, mainly in low temperature perception. There were no differences in estimated thresholds between sides or in female and male groups. The vibratory limits did not differ significantly between nerves, and subgroups.ConclusionThe study confirmed the differences in the physiological sensory perception between the median and ulnar nerves. The median nerve is more sensitive to temperature stimulation than the ulnar nerve, but simultaneously less sensitive to pain-inducing temperature stimuli. These findings should be considered during the examination of hand nerve pathology. (shrink)

Vibratory Modernism" is a collection of original essays that will enable scholars and students to explore how vibrations provided a means of bridging science and art -- two fields that became increasingly separate over the course of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The book demonstrates the vital role played by vibrations in the fields of physics, physiology, spiritualism, and by new vibratory technologies, in helping to shape the way modernist art was made and viewed. The chapters are (...) placed into three connecting parts focusing on literature, the visual arts and theatre, each part highlighting the diverse ways in which writers, artists and performers engaged with the fascinating world of vibrations. (shrink)

Auditory stimulation training (AST) has been proposed as a potential treatment for chil-dren with specific language impairments (SLI). The current study was designed to test this as-sumption by using an AST with technically modulated musical material (ASTM) in a random-ized control group design. A total of 101 preschool children (62 male, 39 females; mean age = 4.52 years, SD = 0.62) with deficits in speech comprehension and poor working memory ca-pacity were randomly allocated into one of two treatment groups (...) or a control group. Children in the ASTM group (n = 40) received three 30-minute sessions per week over 12 weeks, whereas children in the comparison group received pedagogical activities during these intervals (n = 24). Children in the control group (n = 37) received no treatment. Working memory, phoneme dis-crimination and speech perception skills were tested prior to (baseline) and after treatment. Chil-dren in the ASTM group showed significantly greater working memory capacity, speech per-ception, and phoneme discrimination skills after treatment, whereas children in the other groups did not show such improvement. Taken together, these results suggest that ASTM can enhance auditory cognitive performance in children with SLI. (shrink)

Many studies have discussed the neural basis of asset bubbles. They found that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) played an important role in bubble formation, but whether a causal relationship exists and the mechanism of the effect of the DLPFC on bubbles remains unsettled. Using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), we modulated the activity of the DLPFC and investigated the causal relationship between the DLPFC and the asset bubble in the classical learning-to-forecast experiment. 126 subjects were randomly divided into (...) three groups and received different stimulations (left anodal/right cathodal, right anodal/left cathodal or sham stimulation) respectively. We also conducted a 2-back task before and after stimulation to measure changes in subjects’ cognitive abilities and explore in detail the cognitive mechanism of the effect of DLPFC stimulation on asset bubbles. Based on our results, we found that the bubble of the left anodal/right cathodal stimulation group was significantly smaller than that of the sham stimulation group. In the meantime, subjects performed significantly better in the 2-back task after left anodal/right cathodal stimulation but not right anodal/left cathodal or sham stimulation, which is consistent with their performance in the learning-to-forecast experiment, supporting the cognitive mechanism to some extent. Furthermore, we examined different forecasting rules across individuals and discovered that the left anodal/right cathodal stimulation group preferred the adaptive learning rule, while the sham and right anodal/left cathodal stimulation groups adopted a pure trend-following rule that tended to intensify market volatility aggressively. (shrink)

It has been well documented that the auditory system in the superior temporal cortex is responsible for processing basic auditory sound features, such as sound frequency and intensity, while the prefrontal cortex is involved in higher-order auditory functions, such as language processing and auditory episodic memory. The temporal auditory cortex has vast forward anatomical projections to the prefrontal auditory cortex, connecting with the lateral, medial, and orbital parts of the prefrontal cortex. The connections between the auditory cortex and the prefrontal (...) cortex thus help in localizing, recognizing, and comprehending external auditory inputs. In addition, the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) is believed to be a core region of episodic memory retrieval and is one of the most important regions in the default mode network (DMN). However, previous neural evidence with regard to the comparison between basic auditory processing and auditory episodic memory retrieval mainly comes from fMRI studies. The specific neural networks and the corresponding critical frequency bands of neuronal oscillations underlying the two auditory functions remain unclear. In the present study, we reported results of direct cortical stimulations during stereo-electro-encephalography (SEEG) recording in a patient with drug-resistant epilepsy. Electrodes covered the superior temporal gyrus, the operculum and the insula cortex of bilateral hemispheres, the prefrontal cortex, the parietal lobe, the anterior and middle cingulate cortex, and the amygdala of the left hemisphere. Two types of auditory hallucinations were evoked with direct cortical stimulations, which were consistent with the habitual seizures. The noise hallucinations, i.e., “I could hear buzzing noises in my head,” were evoked with the stimulation of the superior temporal gyrus. The episodic memory hallucinations “I could hear a young woman who was dressed in a red skirt saying: What is the matter with you?,” were evoked with the stimulation of MPFC. The patient described how she had met this young woman when she was young and that the woman said the same sentence to her. Furthermore, by analyzing the high gamma power (HGP) induced by direct electrical stimulation, two dissociable neural networks underlying the two types of auditory hallucinations were localized. Taken together, the present results confirm the hierarchical processing of auditory information by showing the different involvements of the primary auditory cortex vs. the prefrontal cortex in the two types of auditory hallucinations. (shrink)