• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.65-71
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• 2009

Purpose: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a useful method for modulating the brain activity. This study compared the effect of continuous and interrupted tDCS using the change in the movement related cortical potential. Methods: Thirty healthy participants (male: 18 and female: 12) were assigned randomly to three groups; sham tDCS, continuous tDCS, which the current continuously flowed for 10 minutes, and interrupted tDCS, which the interrupted current flowed for 10 minutes (repetition: 4sec stimulation and 5sec rest) at an intensity of 1mA with anodal polarity. The effect of tDCS on the right primary motor area was measured from the movement related cortical potential (MRCP) before and after the experiment. MRCP consisted of the bereitshaftspotential (BP) and negative slope potential (NS) at Cz and C4. Results: Continuous and interrupted tDCS showed a significant difference in the changes in the BP, NS at Cz and C4 compared to the sham tDCS. However, there was no significant difference between the continuous tDCS and interrupted tDCS. Conclusion: The change in cortical activity by continuous and interrupted tDCS results from an improvement in the MRCP. An interrupted tDCS may be a safe and useful modality for stimulating the cortical region.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.262-267
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• 2012

Purpose: This study was designed to analyze the differences in cerebral cortex activity of the elderly after extracting the movement related cortical potentials (MRCPs) from electroencephalogram (EEG) during a concentric and eccentric contraction of the elbow joint flexors, and entering them into the brain-mapping program to make the images. Methods: Right-dominant normal elderly people were divided into an eccentric contraction group and a concentric contraction group. Then, their MRCPs were measured using EEG and sEMG, during an eccentric and concentric contraction. Then, they were converted into images using the brain-mapping program. Results: Eccentric contraction group's $C_3$ and Cz showed statistically higher mean values of MRCP positive potential than the concentric contraction group. Conclusion: Researching a cerebral cortex activity, using MRCP, would provide basic data for clinical neuro-physiological researches on aging or neural plasticity of patients with a central nervous system injury.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.73-80
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• 2009

Purpose: In order to examine difference in the activity of potential of spinal neurons and cortical neurons according to muscle contraction type in post stroke hemiplegic subjects and healthy subjects, the present study conducted an experiment as follows. Methods: The subjects in the experimental group were 17 left-side hemiplegic subjects (9 female, 8 male; mean age, 63.41$\pm$9.86 years) with the right hand as the dominant hand selected among post stroke hemiplegic subjects, and 17 age matched healthy control subjects (10 female, 7 male; mean age, 64.12$\pm$12.07 years). Movement-related cortical potentials (MRCPs) were measured using surface electromyography and electroencephalography while concentric and eccentric movements were made alternately. Results: As to the pattern of the activity of MRCP, which indicates the activity of motor cortical neurons, we found that the amplitude is high (p<0.01), the length of excitement is short (p<0.01) and the ascending gradient of amplitude to the peak increases (p<0.05) in post stroke hemiplegic subjects' lesion sites different from healthy subjects. Conclusion: The activity of cortical neurons was no difference in activity according to contraction type was observed in post stroke hemiplegic subjects' lesion sites. This suggests that there is no distinction in the activity of cortical neurons between concentric contraction and eccentric contraction. Accordingly, if post stroke hemiplegic subjects' activity of motor cortex is analyzed by measuring MRCPs, it is considered useful in research on neural plasticity or as a ground of clinical effects in the area of physical therapy for the central nervous system.