• Journal of Korean Medical Ki-Gong Academy
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-27
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• 2023

Objective : This paper provides a narrative review of the research literature on the neurophysiological and neurochemical mechanisms of local vibration while studying the treatment principles and mechanisms of Whidam's vibrator Sugi therapy. Methods : Searches related to vibration therapy research were conducted in PUBMED using "Vibration", "Whole Body Vibration", "Localized Vibration", and "Focal Vibration". The Conditions were limited to review and systematic review. Results : Roberto Casale's paper was selected as an inquiry task and reviewed critically and narratively by referring to other papers. The stimulation process of local vibration (LV) was broadly classified into receptor transmission (pain reception phase), ascending sensory pathway to the spinal cord (segmental phase), and action of the cortex and subcortical structures (systemic control phase) according to the pain pathway. In addition, the role of C-tactile mechanoreceptors, changes in neurotransmitters and neurohormones, LV stimulation below perception threshold (lower threshold), pain control and kinesiologic illusions were specially addressed. In addition, the expression and function of Piezo Channels were added to supplement the human pain and tactile sensing mechanism. Conclusions : LV exerts pain control mechanisms through different interactions that can interfere with pain transmission and pain perception. Since LV provides sufficient neurophysiological reasons for clinical application, it is necessary to expand the use of Whidam's vibrator Sugi therapy to a wider range of clinical applications.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.185-193
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• 1997

The purpose of this study was to investigate the neurophysiological mechanisms, assessment of muscle spasm and treatments that could apply to clinical field. Spasm is a painful pattern of contraction of muscle caused by chronic or acute trauma, excessive tension, or organic disorders. Aside from pain, muscle spasm creates shortenning of muscles and limits motion. Untreated spasm and protective immobility due to pain lead to decreased local blood flow in the muscles and result in a vicious cycle of muscle spasm and paul. The assessment of muscle spasm involve muscle tone assessment, tissue compliance, and joint ROM. Each of these aessessments utilize as a part of the patient's condition Clinical managements involve drug management and physical therapy. Expecially, physical therapy is one of the most important techniques to reduce muscle spasm. Physical therapy includes applying heat and cold, electrical stimulation, massage, and traction. This investigation should entourage phisical therapists to experiment further with various techniques to reduce muscle spasm.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.81-84
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• 2002

Tetanus is a disorder known to interfere with inhibitory modulation of the motor system in humans. In this report, we describe the characteristic neurophysiological findings in a 52-year-old patient with generalized tetanus. The cutaneous silent period was absent and the silent period evoked in distal upper limb muscles by transcranial magnetic stimulation was shortened. These findings can be interpreted as evidence of impaired inhibitory mechanisms at multiple levels of the nervous system.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.78-83
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• 2023

Nociplastic pain refers to pain arising from altered nociception without evidence of tissue or somatosensory damage. It encompasses various clinical conditions with shared neurophysiological mechanisms involving different organ systems. Nociplastic pain can occur independently or alongside chronic pain conditions with a nociceptive or neuropathic origin. This review introduces the concept of nociplastic pain, its clinical manifestations and the underlying pathophysiology. Taking a biopsychosocial approach can lead to a better understanding of nociplastic pain and improved treatment outcomes for affected individuals.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.600-610
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• 2017

It was common that the classification of itching was classified into four categories according to the neurophysiological mechanisms of pruritoceptive itching, neuropathic itching, neurogenic itching and psychogenic itching. Recently it was classified by clinical criteria. The neurotransmission pathway of itch is divided into histamine-dependent pathway and histamine-independent pathway. Different receptors and neuropeptides act on each itch mediator. Itch mediators such as histamine, BAM8-22, and chloroquine are transmitted through the histamine-dependent pathway. Cowhage spicule, protease, and TSLP (Thymic stromal lymphopoietin) have been reported to be related to the histamine-independent pathway. These itch mediators, receptors, and neuropeptides are the targets of treatment for itching. Although itching and pain are typical noxious stimuli, and in the past, it was argued that two senses were transmitted through one noxious stimulus receptor. It has recently been shown that itching and pain have an independent neurotransmitter system and both neuronal systems inhibit each other. In addition, the mutual antagonism between itching and pain is explained by various mechanisms. Recently, many new mediators and receptors are being studied. The studies on histamine 4 receptor (H4 receptor) have been actively conducted. And the H4 receptors are expressed in immune cells such as T cells. The therapeutic agent for blocking the H4 receptor can inhibit the inflammatory reaction itself, which is important for the itching and chronicization. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of itching and studying new itch mediators will lead to the development of effective therapies, and this is what I think the itching study will go on.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2011

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive tool used to study aspects of human brain physiology, including motor function and the pathophysiology of various brain disorders. A brief electric current passed through a magnetic coil produces a high-intensity magnetic field, which can excite or inhibit the cerebral cortex. Although various brain regions can be evaluated by TMS, most studies have focused on the motor cortex where motor evoked potentials (MEPs) are produced. Single-pulse and paired-pulse TMS can be used to measure the excitability of the motor cortex via various parameters, while repetitive TMS induces cortical plasticity via long-term potentiation or long-term depression-like mechanisms. Therefore, TMS is useful in the evaluation of physiological mechanisms of various neurological diseases, including movement disorders and epilepsy. In addition, it has diagnostic utility in spinal cord diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and demyelinating diseases. The therapeutic effects of repetitive TMS on stroke, Parkinson disease and focal hand dystonia are limited since the duration and clinical benefits seem to be temporary. New TMS techniques, which may improve clinical utility, are being developed to enhance clinical utilities in various neurological diseases.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.82-91
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• 1996

Normal balance is defined as state in which the body is equlilibrium. It is complex motor control task, requring integration of sensory information, neural processing, and biomechanical factors. There are major two factors contribute to balance control, the neurological and the musculoskeletal. The neurological factor provides the sensory processing and motor output mechanisms that are the neurophysiological basis for response. The musculoskeletal factor provides the mechanical structure for response. When all components of two factors are operating effectively, the postural response should be appropriate and effective for good balance control. Therfore, balance can be influenced by above all factors. In addition, balance can be also influenced by muscle tone, hearing, physiological factors, and environmental factors. Physical therapists must understand factors of balance control so that we can accurately assess balance. Therefore, physical therapists have to develop useful balance measurement tools to evaluate balance.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.241-251
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• 2017

Devices that monitor the depth of hypnosis based on the electroencephalogram (EEG) have long been commercialized, and clinicians use these to titrate the dosage of hypnotic agents. However, these have not yet been accepted as standard monitoring devices for anesthesiology. The primary reason is that the use of these monitoring devices does not completely prevent awareness during surgery, and the development of these devices has not taken into account the neurophysiological mechanisms of hypnotic agents, thus making it possible to show different levels of unconsciousness in the same brain status. An alternative is to monitor EEGs that are not signal processed with numerical values presented by these monitoring devices. Several studies have reported that power spectral analysis alone can distinguish the effects of different hypnotic agents on consciousness changes. This paper introduces the basic concept of power spectral analysis and introduces the EEG characteristics of various hypnotic agents that are used in sedation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2019

Purpose: In chronic stroke patients, muscle tone and stiffness increase due to ankle spasticity. Electrotherapy may control the spasticity of patients with central nerve system damage via neurophysiological mechanisms. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the immediate effects of interferential current therapy on gastrocnemius (GCM) muscle. Methods: This study was a one-group pretest-posttest design and 20 stroke patients participated. The experimental group underwent interferential current therapy for GCM for 30 minutes. Muscle tone (MT) and stiffness were assessed using MYOTONE(R) PRO. After 30 minutes of interferential current therapy, MT and stiffness of the affected side and unaffected side by GCM were measured. Results: After interferential current therapy, the medial GCM MT (Hz) was significantly reduced in stroke patients. There was a significant difference in MT between affected GCM muscles and unaffected side medial GCM muscles before intervention, but there was no significant difference after interferential current therapy. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that interferential current therapy had a positive effect, producing an immediate decrease in the medial GCM muscles tone of stroke patients. However, this study employed a one-group pretest-posttest design. Future studies will show differences in muscle tone compared to a control group or other electrical stimulation treatments.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.113-119
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• 2008

In pulse diagnosis, the indentation pressure is one of the most important factors as well as the change of pulse shape and the distribution of pressure via time. But, on the oriental medical doctor's indentation pressure control, the understandings of the neurophysiological meanings and mechanisms have been lacked. So, in this paper, we considered on these issues and then proposed a proper system which can imitate the OMD's indentation pressure control mechanisms. As a result, both tactile information and kinesthetic information were found to be essential to the indentation pressure control so that a system, which can measure both the physical indent pressure and the displacement of an indentation arm, has been proposed. With this proposed system, while the indentation was being controlled through the moving step number of the step motor, the physical indentation pres sure and displacement of the indentation arm were measured. From these measured data, the relationships between the moving step number and both physical indentation pressure and displacement were revealed to have linear characteristics in early phase and to have nonlinear characteristics in latter phase. Additionally, three types of graph were generated whose X axis means the moving step number, the physical indentation pressure and the displacement respectively and Y axis means the pulse pressure. By comparing these graphs, we come to conclude that different concepts on indentation pressure control cause different diagnostic results on floating/sinking degrees for the same subject. Consequently, an indentation system for the pulse diagnosis should be able to provide both the tactile information and kinesthetic information, that is, the physical indentation pressure and the displacement of the indentation arm. In future, the proposed system should be optimized to the pulse diagnosis environment and how to combine the both information for more reliable diagnosis should be studied.