Search

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation is a noninvasive magnetic stimulation of the motor cortex and motor pathways. Responses obtained from the target muscles through TMS can be evaluated electrophysiologically. There are 20 healthy volunteers who use the right hand actively in the study. There are active right hand 20 healthy volunteers in the study. Two sEMG electrodes are placed in the Abductor Pollicis Brevis (APB) and Orbicularis Oris (O.oris) muscles. APB muscle constitutes a hand representative in the cortical motor mapping. O.Oris muscle constitutes a face representative in the cortical motor mapping. The position, amplitude and latency values of muscular action potentialsinduced by magnetic stimulation are determined by signal processing methods. The results are mapped on 3-D human model. When the right-hand representation map is examined, the hot spot of the APB muscle is found as the C1. While the motor potential of the hot spot is 6.89(±1.67) mV, the latency time is 20.98(±0.87) ms. When the right-face representation map is examined, the hot spot of the O.Oris muscle's found as the F5. While the motor potential of the hot spot is 2.83(±1.81) mV, the latency time is 4.95(±0.05) ms. Moreover, the face representation intersects with the hand representation at some points and is active at distances close to the hand representation.

The expression of apelin and its receptors (APJ) in central autonomic networks suggests that apelin may regulate gastrointestinal motor functions. In rodents, central administration of apelin-13 has been shown to inhibit gastric emptying; however, the mechanisms involved remain to be determined. Using male adult Sprague-Dawley rats, the aims of the present study were 1) to determine the expression of APJ receptor in the dorsal vagal complex (DVC), 2) to assess the effects of central application of apelin-13 into the DVC on gastric tone and motility, and 3) to investigate the neuronal pathways responsible for apelin-induced alterations. APJ receptor immunoreactivity was detected in gastric-projecting and choline acetyltransferase-positive neurons of the DVC. Microinjection of apelin-13 into the DVC significantly decreased gastric tone and motility in both corpus and antrum. The apelin-induced reduction in gastric tone and motility was prevented by surgical vagotomy or fourth ventricular application of the APJ receptor antagonist, [Ala13]apelin-13 (F13A). Systemic administration of the muscarinic receptor antagonist atropine, but not the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME), abolished the apelin-induced inhibitory responses. The present results indicate a central modulatory role of apelin in the vagal neurocircuitry that controls gastric motor functions via withdrawal of the tonically active cholinergic pathway. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This is the first study investigating the effects induced by brain stem application of apelin-13 while monitoring gastric tone and motility in rats. We have found that gastric-projecting neurons of the dorsal vagal complex express apelin receptors (APJ), which mediate the inhibitory actions of apelin-13. The inhibitory effects of apelin were abolished by systemic preadministration of atropine, but not nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME). Apelin seems to modulate gastric motility via withdrawal of the tonically active vagal cholinergic pathway.

Facial transplantation is defined as transfer of facial tissue from a donor to a patient who has suffered facial loss as a result of total denervation. Loss of facial tissue in the patient’s transplant history is important for synaptic change. Our study aims to develop neurophysiological approaches by defining the change of motor representations in the brain. In this study, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is used to create Orbicularis Oris (O.Oris) and Abductor Pollicis Brevis (APB) muscles representation maps in facial transplant cases. Control group is established to identify brain presentation changes in facial transplant cases. The position, amplitude and latency values of muscular action potentials induced by magnetic stimulation are determined by signal processing methods. The results are mapped on 3-D human model. In the first case, the hot spot is identified as FC5 (4.66 mV to 5 ms) in the face mapping. When the face mapping of the patient is compared with the control group, the hot spot amplitude value is acquired as 64.25% and the latency value is 1.01% higher. In this case, the facial responses become more lateral. In the second case, the hot spot is found as AF7 (1.41 mV to 5.40 ms), and 50.29% decreases in amplitude value and 9.09% increases in latency value occur in the face mapping. It is observed that the facial responses are enlarged anteriorly and hand responses are detected in the face area. The results which denote the existence of the brain plasticity in the face transplant patients can be evaluated in the planning of rehabilitation processes. This study is supported by TUBITAK with 215E012 project number.