• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
• /
• v.27 no.6
• /
• pp.587-599
• /
• 2002

Extracellular single unit recordings were made from the ventral posteromedial thalamic (VPM) nociceptive neurons to determine mechanoreceptive field (RF) and response properties. A total of 44 VPM thalamic nociceptive neurons were isolated from rats anesthetized with urethane-chloralose. Based on responses to various mechanical stimuli including touch, pressure and pinch applied to the RF, 32 of 44 neurons were classified as nociceptive specific (NS) neuron. The other 12 neurons, classified as wide dynamic range (WDR), showed a graded response to increasingly intense stimuli, with a maximum discharge to noxious pinch. The VPM nociceptive neurons showed various spontaneous activity ranged from 0-6 Hz. They were located throughout the VPM, and had an contralateral RF including mainly intraoral (and perioral) regions. The RF size was relatively small, and very few neurons had a receptive field involving 3 trigeminal divisions. The NS neurons activated only by pressure and pinch stimuli had high mechanical thresholds compared to WDR neurons activated also by touch stimuli. The VPM nociceptive neurons were tested with suprathershold graded mechanical stimuli. Most of 21 NS and 8 WDR neurons showed a progressive increase in number of spikes as mechanical stimulus intensity was increased. In some neurons, the responses reached a peak before the highest intensity was given. Application of 5 mM $CoCl_2{\;}(10{\;}{\mu}\ell)$ solution to the trigeminal subnucleus caudalis did not produce any significant changes in the spontaneous activity, RF size, mechanical threshold, and response to suprathreshold mechanical stimuli of 9 VPM nociceptive neurons tested. 17 of 33 VPM nociceptive neurons responded to noxious heat as well as noxious mechanical stimuli applied to their RF. Application of the mustard oil, a small-fiber excitant and inflammatory irritant, to the right maxillary first molar tooth pulp induced an immediate but short-lasting neuronal discharges upto approximately 4 min in 16 of 42 VPM nociceptive neurons. These results suggest that VPM thalamic nucleus may contribute to the sensory discriminative aspect of orofacial nociception.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.41-46
• /
• 1999

Purpose : To investigate the difference of total activation in visual area, motor area, and cerebellum according to the stimulation paradigm. Materials and Methods : Functional MR imaging was performed in 5 healthy volunteers with visual and motor activity using EPI technique. LED and Checker-Board stimulation were performed for visual activity. Thumb motion and Finger Tapping were performed for motor and cerebellum activity. Stimulus timing was 60sec. off, 120sec. on, 60sec. off. Data processing was carried out by using the cross-correlation method for each pixel. Each pixel was then selected and assumed activated if the correlation coefficient was equal or larger than a threshold value. Time course data was obtained by calculating the total activation which was defined as the number of activated pixel x averaged pixel intensity. Results : In the case of visual activity with LED stimulation, we found increased total activity of more than 100% compared with Checker-Board stimulation. In the case of motor area and cerebellum with Finger tapping stimulation, we found increased total activity of more than 10% and 150%, respectively compared with Thumb motion stimulation.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.49-55
• /
• 2017

The prevalence of obesity has noticeably increased worldwide over several decades with various complication. Even though anti-obesity drug treatments have been spotlighted by resulting in effective mean weight losses, its adverse effects cannot be overlooked. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of multi-frequency whole body vibration, one of the mechanical stimulus, as a countermeasure against obesity. Thirty-two-6-week-old C57BL/6J male mice were equally assigned to four groups: the Control group (CON, n = 8), the Sham group (Sham, n = 8), the sham with single frequency whole body vibration (S+V, n = 8), and the sham with multi frequency whole body vibration (S+MV, n = 8). After 4 weeks, morphologic changes in the adipose tissue were evaluated from three-dimensional images using in vivo micro-computed tomography. At 4 weeks, the volume of the abdominal adipose tissue, which had the highest value in Sham group, noticeably reduced in S+MV group compared to it in S+V group. These results implied that the accumulation of abdominal adipose tissue can be effectively reduced through applying multi-frequency whole body vibration.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
• /
• v.27 no.5
• /
• pp.482-485
• /
• 2016

In this work, a transcranial magnetic stimulation(TMS) experiment on animals is performed to stimulate the brain cortex of the mouse using modulated signals. The proposed TMS system is composed of the inverter, transformer, capacitor, variable inductor, and stimulation coil to generate 1.5 mT magnetic field in the brain cortex of the mouse. The stimulation signal is modulated to square wave where the carrier frequency is swept from 85 to 91 kHz to investigate the stimulation effect. The experimental result shows that when the carrier frequency of the stimulation signal is lower than 89 kHz, the reaction of the mouse does not change while the stimulation signal which has the carrier frequency higher than 89 kHz results in decreasing the threshold of the stimulus for the pressure.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
• /
• v.7 no.4
• /
• pp.131-140
• /
• 2019

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to investigate the interrelationship between eye movement and auditory function through the effects of eye lateralization on transient evoked otoacoustic emissions of auditory function. Methods : 25 subjects with complete set of ears were used in this study, which composed of 12 males and 13 females with pure tone threshold of below 25 dB without otolaryngology were evaluated. Each of the patient has a visual acuity of greater than 1.0 after correction, and has no problems with eye disease, eye movement, and human parallel system. In a dark silent room, the subjects sat on a chair with their heads fixed on a headrest. The tests were performed by asking the patients to look at a fixed red light dot on a light bar in front of them. This light was directed to the front, right and left sides of the subject at an angle of 40 ° In the presence of the stimulus sound in the ipsilateral ear, the transient evoked otoacoustic emissions of the ipsilateral ear was measured at the straight, right and left fixation. In order to evaluate the transient evoked otoacoustic emissions through the efferent auditory pathway, the transient evoked otoacoustic emission values of the contralateral ear were measured at the straight, right and left fixation. These measurements were taken at frequencies of 1 kHz, 1.4 kHz, 2.0 kHz, 2.8 kHz and 4 kHz, respectively. Results : Transient evoked otoacoustic emissions caused by lateral movement of the eye showed significant changes at 1.4 KHz and 2 KHz of the afferent pathway of the ipsilateral ear. Also, significant changes were observed at 1.4 KHz and 4 KHz of the efferent pathway of the contralateral ear. Conclusion : These results indicated that there is a close relationship between eye movement and auditory cochlea. In the future, further studies considering more diverse subjects and age groups will be needed.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.88-97
• /
• 1999

Auditory thresholds were determined by means of a conditioned response to sound stimuli at frequencies 80, 100, 200, 300, 500 and 800 Hz for a 10 black rock fish, Sebastes schlegeli. The conditioned response was a change of a cardiac rhythm. It was established through an electric shock as unconditioned stimulus, and could be monitored on an oscilloscope. A stable acoustic condition was obtained by suspending the fish in a small cage at fixed position in the test tank. The sensitive frequencies ranged from 80 Hz to about 800 Hz, showing the best frequency around 100 Hz where the mean threshold value was 90.5 dB. A gradual rise below 300 Hz and a relatively sharp turn above 500 Hz were indicated in the audiogram. The method presented here seemed to be useful for a rapid determination of the audiogram of fishes.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
• /
• v.54 no.2
• /
• pp.157-162
• /
• 2022

The purpose of the direct cortical and subcortical stimulation technique is to prevent false positives caused by transcranial electrical motor evoked potentials (TceMEP) in surgery on patients with brain tumors that have occurred around the motor cortex and to preserve the correct mapping of motor areas during surgery and the corticospinal tract. In addition, it reduces the trial and error that occurs during the intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (INM) process and minimizes the test time, so that accurate information is communicated to the surgeon with quick feedback on the test results. The most important factors of this technique are, first, examination at a stimulus threshold of a certain intensity, and second, maintaining anesthesia depth at an appropriate level to prevent false positives from occurring during surgery. The third is the installation of a multi-level channel recording electrode on the opposite side of the area of operation to measure the TceMEP waveform and the response to direct cortical and subcortical stimulation in as many muscles as possible. If these conditions are maintained, it is possible to predict causes that may occur in other factors, not false positives, from the INM test.

• Journal of Audiology & Otology
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.133-139
• /
• 2020

Background and Objectives: The Gaps-In-Noise (GIN) test is a clinically effective measure of the integrity of the central auditory nervous system. The GIN procedure can be applied to a pediatric population above 7 years of age. The present study conducted the GIN test to compare the abilities of auditory temporal resolution among typically developing children, children with speech sound disorder (SSD), and children with cognitive difficulty (CD). Subjects and Methods: Children aged 8 to 11 years-(total n=30) participated in this study. There were 10 children in each of the following three groups: typically developing children, children with SSD, and children with CD. The Urimal Test of Articulation and Phonology was conducted as a clinical assessment of the children's articulation and phonology. The Korean version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (K-WISC-III) was administered as a screening test for general cognitive function. According to the procedure of Musiek, the pre-recorded stimuli of the GIN test were presented at 50 dB SL. The results were scored by the approximated threshold and the overall percent correct score (%). Results: All the typically developing children had normal auditory temporal resolution based on the clinical cutoff criteria of the GIN test. The children with SSD or CD had significantly reduced gap detection performance compared to age-matched typically developing children. The children's intelligence score measured by the K-WISC-III test explained 37% of the variance in the percent-correct score. Conclusions: Children with SSD or CD exhibited poorer ability to resolve rapid temporal acoustic cues over time compared to the age-matched typically developing children. The ability to detect a brief temporal gap embedded in a stimulus may be related to the general cognitive ability or phonological processing.

• Korean Journal of Audiology
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.133-139
• /
• 2020

Background and Objectives: The Gaps-In-Noise (GIN) test is a clinically effective measure of the integrity of the central auditory nervous system. The GIN procedure can be applied to a pediatric population above 7 years of age. The present study conducted the GIN test to compare the abilities of auditory temporal resolution among typically developing children, children with speech sound disorder (SSD), and children with cognitive difficulty (CD). Subjects and Methods: Children aged 8 to 11 years-(total n=30) participated in this study. There were 10 children in each of the following three groups: typically developing children, children with SSD, and children with CD. The Urimal Test of Articulation and Phonology was conducted as a clinical assessment of the children's articulation and phonology. The Korean version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (K-WISC-III) was administered as a screening test for general cognitive function. According to the procedure of Musiek, the pre-recorded stimuli of the GIN test were presented at 50 dB SL. The results were scored by the approximated threshold and the overall percent correct score (%). Results: All the typically developing children had normal auditory temporal resolution based on the clinical cutoff criteria of the GIN test. The children with SSD or CD had significantly reduced gap detection performance compared to age-matched typically developing children. The children's intelligence score measured by the K-WISC-III test explained 37% of the variance in the percent-correct score. Conclusions: Children with SSD or CD exhibited poorer ability to resolve rapid temporal acoustic cues over time compared to the age-matched typically developing children. The ability to detect a brief temporal gap embedded in a stimulus may be related to the general cognitive ability or phonological processing.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.36 no.2
• /
• pp.173-183
• /
• 2023

Background: Understanding the stability of quantitative sensory tests (QSTs) over time is important to aid clinicians in selecting a battery of tests for assessing and monitoring patients. This study evaluated the short- and long-term reliability of selected QSTs. Methods: Twenty healthy women participated in three experimental sessions: Baseline, 2 weeks, and 6 months. Measurements included pressure pain thresholds (PPT) in the neck, upper back, and leg; Pressure-cuff pain tolerance around the upper-arm; conditioned pain modulation during a pressure-cuff stimulus; and referred pain following a suprathreshold pressure stimulation. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and minimum detectable change (MDC) were calculated. Results: Reliability for PPT was excellent for all sites at 2 weeks (ICC, 0.96-0.99; MDC, 22-55 kPa) and from good to excellent at 6 months (ICC, 0.88-0.95; MDC, 47-91 kPa). ICC for pressure-cuff pain tolerance indicated excellent reliability at both times (0.91-0.97). For conditioned pain modulation, reliability was moderate for all sites at 2 weeks (ICC, 0.57-0.74; MDC, 24%-35%), while it was moderate at the neck (ICC, 0.54; MDC, 27%) and poor at the upper back and leg at 6 months. ICC for referred pain areas was excellent at 2 weeks (0.90) and good at 6 months (0.86). Conclusions: PPT, pressure pain tolerance, and pressure-induced referred pain should be considered reliable procedures to assess the pain-sensory profile over time. In contrast, conditioned pain modulation was shown to be unstable. Future studies prospectively analyzing the pain-sensory profile will be able to better calculate appropriate sample sizes.