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Introduction Low-grade gliomas (LGG) are slow-growing primary brain tumors in adults, with high tropism for eloquent areas. Standard approach in treatment of LGG is awake craniotomy with intraoperative cortical mapping -- a method which is usually used on adult and fully cooperative patients. Case Report We present the case of a patient with learning disabilities (PLD) who was operated for left insular LGG awake craniotomy, and intraoperative cortical mapping were performed and the tumor was gross totally removed. Conclusion Awake surgery for left insular LGG removal is challenging; however, it can be performed safely and successfully on PLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an upgrade of a Phantom Premium 1.5 haptic device for use within a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) environment. A special mechanical extension that allows the haptic device to operate at a safe distance from the high-density magnetic field of an fMRI scanner has been developed. Extended haptic system was subjected to a series of tests to confirm electromagnetic compatibility with the fMRI scanner, for which key results are presented. With this fMRI compatible haptic platform a human brain activation during controlled upper limb movements can be studied. A simple virtual environment reaching task was programmed to study brain motor control functions. At the end preliminary results of an ongoing neurophysiological study are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current experimental methods for the study of reaching in the MRI environment do not exactly mimic actual reaching, due to constrains in movement which are imposed by the MRI machine itself. We tested a haptic robot (HR) as such a tool. Positive results would also be promising for combined use of fMRI and EEG to study reaching. Twenty right-handed subjects performed reaching tasks with their right hand with and without the HR. Reaction time, movement time (MT), accuracy, event-related potentials (ERPs) and event-related desynchronisation/synchronisation (ERD/ERS) were studied. Reaction times and accuracies did not differ significantly between the two tasks, while the MT was significantly longer in HR reaching (959 vs. 447 ms). We identified two positive and two negative ERP peaks across all leads in both tasks. The latencies of the P1 and N2 peaks were significantly longer in HR reaching, while there were no significant differences in the P3 and N4 latencies. ERD/ERS topographies were similar between tasks and similar to other reaching studies. Main difference was in ERS rebound which was observed only in actual reaching. Probable reason was significantly larger MT. We found that reaching with the HR engages similar neural structures as in actual reaching. Although there are some constrains, its use may be superior to other techniques used for reaching studies in the MRI environment, where freedom of movement is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]