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Frontiers in Neurorobotics 2019The young infant explores its body, its sensorimotor system, and the immediately accessible parts of its environment, over the course of a few months creating a model of...
The young infant explores its body, its sensorimotor system, and the immediately accessible parts of its environment, over the course of a few months creating a model of peripersonal space useful for reaching and grasping objects around it. Drawing on constraints from the empirical literature on infant behavior, we present a preliminary computational model of this learning process, implemented and evaluated on a physical robot. The learning agent explores the relationship between the configuration space of the arm, sensing joint angles through proprioception, and its visual perceptions of the hand and grippers. The resulting knowledge is represented as the peripersonal space (PPS) graph, where nodes represent states of the arm, edges represent safe movements, and paths represent safe trajectories from one pose to another. In our model, the learning process is driven by a form of intrinsic motivation. When repeatedly performing an action, the agent learns the typical result, but also detects unusual outcomes, and is motivated to learn how to make those unusual results reliable. Arm motions typically leave the static background unchanged, but occasionally bump an object, changing its static position. The reach action is learned as a reliable way to bump and move a specified object in the environment. Similarly, once a reliable reach action is learned, it typically makes a quasi-static change in the environment, bumping an object from one static position to another. The unusual outcome is that the object is accidentally grasped (thanks to the innate Palmar reflex), and thereafter moves dynamically with the hand. Learning to make grasping reliable is more complex than for reaching, but we demonstrate significant progress. Our current results are steps toward autonomous sensorimotor learning of motion, reaching, and grasping in peripersonal space, based on unguided exploration and intrinsic motivation.
PubMed: 30853907
DOI: 10.3389/fnbot.2019.00004 -
Clinics in Geriatric Medicine Aug 1998This article describes common soft tissue problems encountered in older adults, including fibromyalgia, selected bursitis/tendinitis syndromes, nerve entrapment... (Review)
Review
This article describes common soft tissue problems encountered in older adults, including fibromyalgia, selected bursitis/tendinitis syndromes, nerve entrapment syndromes, and miscellaneous topics such as Dupuytren's contractures, trigger fingers, palmar fasciitis, and reflex-sympathetic dystrophy. Clinical presentations, diagnosis, and treatment are emphasized. These are conditions that are frequently encountered but are generally diagnosed as arthritis or normal age-related problems. This article will hopefully enlighten the reader in distinguishing between these conditions.
Topics: Aged; Female; Fibromyalgia; Humans; Joint Diseases; Male; Muscular Diseases; Nerve Compression Syndromes
PubMed: 9664108
DOI: No ID Found -
Clinical Rheumatology Apr 2007The objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of gabapentin in the earlier stage of reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome (RSD). Twenty-two patients diagnosed... (Clinical Trial)
Clinical Trial
The objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of gabapentin in the earlier stage of reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome (RSD). Twenty-two patients diagnosed with RSD were enrolled. Initial gabapentin dosage was 600 mg/day. This dosage is increased gradually until a satisfactory pain level was reached. After this level, this dosage was maintained throughout the study. An exercise program was also applied to the patients. Provoked and static pain scores of the patients were obtained initially, at 3-day intervals for maintenance dosage determining, and at 6 weeks after the discharge. Functional improvement parameters were volumetric measurement; dynamometric measurement and third finger pulp-distal palmar crease distance measurement for hands; and metric circumferential measurement and range of motion for elbow, knee, and foot initially, at baseline, on the tenth day, upon discharge, and 6 weeks after the discharge. The mean maintenance dose of gabapentin was 1,145.46+/-377.6 mg/day (range, 900-1,800 mg/day). Improvements in spontaneous and provoked pain intensities were statistically significant. No statistically significant difference was obtained in functional improvement parameters. Dizziness in three patients, headache in two patients, and mild burning feeling in the tongue in one patient were the reported side effects. These symptoms resolved spontaneously in few days. Gabapentin cannot be recommended as the drug of choice, but it may be considered as one of the therapeutic alternatives in the management of pain due to RSD. We suggest that it is effective only for the pain and not for other symptoms of RSD. Serious side effects that will cause the patient to stop using the drug are rare.
Topics: Adult; Amines; Analgesics; Cyclohexanecarboxylic Acids; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Exercise Therapy; Gabapentin; Humans; Male; Pain Measurement; Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy; Treatment Outcome; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid
PubMed: 16897121
DOI: 10.1007/s10067-006-0350-y -
Journal of Psychosomatic Research Nov 1967
Topics: Adult; Anxiety; Behavior Therapy; Desensitization, Immunologic; Female; Galvanic Skin Response; Humans; Male; Phobic Disorders; Psychological Tests
PubMed: 6076921
DOI: 10.1016/0022-3999(67)90022-0 -
Clinical Rehabilitation Jun 1998To quantify the amount of variation attributed to different sources of variation in measurement results of upper extremity range of motion, and to estimate the smallest...
OBJECTIVE
To quantify the amount of variation attributed to different sources of variation in measurement results of upper extremity range of motion, and to estimate the smallest detectable difference (SDD) between measurements in reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) patients.
DESIGN
Two observers each measured in two sessions the range of motion of several upper extremity joints of RSD patients participating in an outcome study.
SETTING
Department of Rehabilitation of a university hospital.
SUBJECTS
Twenty-nine upper extremity RSD patients.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The range of motion of forward flexion and external rotation of the shoulder, extension, flexion and supination of the elbow, palmar, dorsiflexion and ulnar, radial deviation of the wrist of affected and nonaffected sides, using a two-armed goniometer and an inclinometer. The measurement results were analysed using an analysis of variance according to the generalizability theory.
RESULTS
The results indicate that observer and patient-observer were important sources of variation. The random error was the most important source of variation. Averaged over all ranges of motion the observer contributed 3.9% to the total variation, patient-observer interactions contributed 5.2% and the random error 20.3%. The SDD was smallest for elbow flexion, 7.1 degrees and 9.6 degrees and was largest for external rotation of the shoulder, 24.8 degrees and 28.7 degrees. The SDD was smaller for the nonaffected side as compared to the affected side for the majority of ranges of motion except elbow extension, wrist dorsiflexion, and radial and ulnar deviation.
CONCLUSION
Clinically, our results indicate that range-of-motion measurements in RSD patients are subject to considerable variation and indicate that results of medical examinations in order to assess disability on the basis of range-of-motion measurements are subject to the same variation.
Topics: Arm; Disability Evaluation; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Observer Variation; Range of Motion, Articular; Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy; Reproducibility of Results
PubMed: 9688042
DOI: 10.1191/026921598675343181 -
European Journal of Pain (London,... 2002Melittin is the main toxin of honeybee venom. Previously, we have reported that intradermal injection of melittin into the volar aspect of forearm in humans produces a...
Melittin is the main toxin of honeybee venom. Previously, we have reported that intradermal injection of melittin into the volar aspect of forearm in humans produces a temporary pain and a subsequent sustained increase in the skin temperature due to axon reflex. To clarify the interaction between nociceptive inputs and vascular changes, we studied the influence of noxious stimulation by intradermal melittin on the vasomotor control of the distal extremities in human volunteers. Temperature changes of the bilateral palmar surface were recorded by means of a computer-assisted infrared thermography. Unexpectedly, we found a biphasic response of skin temperature. The skin temperature of both fingers and hands decreased immediately after the melittin injection and then increased well above the control level, prior to the injection. There was a considerable individual variation in the baseline skin temperature, prior to melittin. The skin temperature in a finger/hand with lower preinjection value increased more markedly in the second phase. Consequently, the individual variation in the peak temperature of the second phase was less pronounced. The initial decrease was interpreted as sympathetic vasoconstrictor reflex induced by noxious stimulation and the later increase as release of sympathetic vasomotor tone.
Topics: Adult; Blood Vessels; Female; Functional Laterality; Humans; Male; Melitten; Nerve Fibers, Unmyelinated; Nociceptors; Pain; Pain Measurement; Reflex; Skin; Skin Temperature; Sympathetic Fibers, Postganglionic; Vasoconstriction; Vasodilation; Vasomotor System
PubMed: 12413433
DOI: 10.1016/s1090-3801(02)00029-0 -
Hormones and Behavior Sep 2018Maternal melatonin provides photoperiodic information to the fetus and thus influences the regulation and timing of the offspring's internal rhythms and preparation for...
Maternal melatonin provides photoperiodic information to the fetus and thus influences the regulation and timing of the offspring's internal rhythms and preparation for extra-uterine development. There is clinical evidence that melatonin deprivation of both mother and fetus during pregnancy, and of the neonate during lactation, results in negative long-term health outcomes. As a consequence, we hypothesized that the absence of maternal pineal melatonin might determine abnormal brain programming in the offspring, which would lead to long-lasting implications for behavior and brain function. To test our hypothesis, we investigated in rats the effects of maternal melatonin deprivation during gestation and lactation (MMD) to the offspring and the effects of its therapeutic replacement. The parameters evaluated were: (1) somatic, physical growth and neurobehavioral development of pups of both sexes; (2) hippocampal-dependent spatial learning and memory of the male offspring; (3) adult hippocampal neurogenesis of the male offspring. Our findings show that MMD significantly delayed male offspring's onset of fur development, pinna detachment, eyes opening, eruption of superior incisor teeth, testis descent and the time of maturation of palmar grasp, righting reflex, free-fall righting and walking. Conversely, female offspring neurodevelopment was not affected. Later on, male offspring show that MMD was able to disrupt both spatial reference and working memory in the Morris Water Maze paradigm and these deficits correlate with changes in the number of proliferative cells in the hippocampus. Importantly, all the observed impairments were reversed by maternal melatonin replacement therapy. In summary, we demonstrate that MMD delays the appearance of physical features, neurodevelopment and cognition in the male offspring, and points to putative public health implications for night shift working mothers.
Topics: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Circadian Rhythm; Cognition; Female; Growth and Development; Lactation; Male; Melatonin; Memory; Mothers; Neurogenesis; Photoperiod; Pineal Gland; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Spatial Learning
PubMed: 30114430
DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2018.08.006 -
European Journal of Pharmacology Dec 1984The effects of procaine, mepivacaine and phenylbutazone on pain perception in the equine were studied using two behavioral assays of nociception; the thermal evoked hoof... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
The effects of procaine, mepivacaine and phenylbutazone on pain perception in the equine were studied using two behavioral assays of nociception; the thermal evoked hoof withdrawal reflex and skin twitch reflex. Pain perception threshold was measured as the latency from onset of thermal stimuli to reflex withdrawal of the forelimb or contraction of the cutaneous musculature. Procaine 2% and mepivacaine 2% prolonged the hoof withdrawal reflex latency when administered locally by producing a block of the palmar and metacarpal nerves. Significant analgesia lasted 90 min and 210 min for procaine and mepivacaine, respectively. Phenylbutazone (7.3 mg/kg) failed to alter pain thresholds measured over a 36 h post-treatment period. However, pain thresholds rose over time with successive trials. These data suggest that in the equine (1) phenylbutazone does not alter normal cutaneous pain perception, and (2) successive presentation of painful stimuli increases nociceptive thresholds.
Topics: Analgesia; Analysis of Variance; Animals; Body Temperature; Female; Horses; Injections, Subcutaneous; Mepivacaine; Nociceptors; Phenylbutazone; Procaine; Reflex; Skin Temperature
PubMed: 6526070
DOI: 10.1016/0014-2999(84)90088-8 -
International Journal of Developmental... Aug 2020Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD) is caused by a severe deficiency in the branched-chain ketoacid dehydrogenase complex activity. Patients MSUD accumulate the...
Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD) is caused by a severe deficiency in the branched-chain ketoacid dehydrogenase complex activity. Patients MSUD accumulate the branched-chain amino acids leucine (Leu), isoleucine, valine in blood, and other tissues. Leu and/or their branched-chain α-keto acids are linked to neurological damage in MSUD. When immediately diagnosed and treated, patients develop normally. Inflammation in MSUD can elicit a metabolic decompensation crisis. There are few cases of pregnancy in MSUD women, and little is known about the effect of maternal hyperleucinemia on the neurodevelopment of their babies. During pregnancy, some intercurrences like maternal infection or inflammation may affect fetal development and are linked to neurologic diseases. Lipopolysaccharide is widely accepted as a model of maternal inflammation. We analyzed the effects of maternal hyperleucinemia and inflammation and the possible positive impact the use of ibuprofen in Wistar rats on a battery of physics (ear unfolding, hair growing, incisors eruption, eye-opening, and auditive channel opening) and neurological reflexes (palmar grasp, surface righting, negative geotaxis, air-righting, and auditory-startle response) maturation parameters in the offspring. Maternal hyperleucinemia and inflammation delayed some physical parameters and neurological reflexes, indicating that both situations may be harmful to fetuses, and ibuprofen reversed some settings.
PubMed: 32379904
DOI: 10.1002/jdn.10035 -
Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica Aug 2002Skin conductance (SC) as a measure of emotional state or arousal may be a tool for monitoring surgical stress in anaesthesia. When an outgoing sympathetic nervous burst...
BACKGROUND
Skin conductance (SC) as a measure of emotional state or arousal may be a tool for monitoring surgical stress in anaesthesia. When an outgoing sympathetic nervous burst occurs to the skin, the palmar and plantar sweat glands are filled up, and the SC increases before the sweat is removed and the SC decreases. This creates a SC fluctuation. The purpose of this study was to measure SC during laparoscopic cholecystectomy with propofol and remifentanil anesthaesia and to evaluate whether number and amplitude of SC fluctuations correlate with perioperative stress monitoring.
METHODS
Eleven patients were studied nine times before, during and after anaesthesia. SC was compared to changes in stress measures such as blood pressure, heart rate, norepinephrine and epinephrine levels. SC was also compared to changes in Bispectral index (BIS).
RESULTS
The blood pressure, epinephrine levels and norepinephrine levels were positively correlated with both the number (P < 0.001) and amplitude (P < 0.01) of the SC fluctuations. Moreover, the BIS was positively correlated with the number (P < 0.001) and amplitude (P < 0.001) of the SC fluctuations. Furthermore, during tracheal intubation, the mean levels of the number of SC fluctuations from the 11 patients had the same stress response as measured in changes of the mean levels of norepinephrine. The mean BIS did not show any stress response during tracheal intubation.
CONCLUSION
Number of SC fluctuations may be a useful method for monitoring the perioperative stress.
Topics: Adult; Anesthesia, General; Anesthetics, Intravenous; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic; Electroencephalography; Epinephrine; Female; Galvanic Skin Response; Hemodynamics; Humans; Male; Monitoring, Intraoperative; Norepinephrine; Piperidines; Postoperative Period; Propofol; Remifentanil; Stress, Physiological
PubMed: 12139547
DOI: 10.1034/j.1399-6576.2002.460721.x