• 한국전문물리치료학회지
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• 제27권2호
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• pp.126-132
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• 2020

Background: Augmented somatosensory feedback stimulates the mechanoreceptor to deliver information on bodily position, improving the postural control. The various types of such feedback include ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs) and vibration. The optimal feedback to mitigate postural sway remains unclear, as does the effect of augmented somatosensory feedback on muscle co-contraction. Objects: We compared postural sway and ankle muscle co-contraction without feedback (control) and with either of two forms of somatosensory feedback (AFOs and vibration). Methods: We recruited 15 healthy subjects and tested them under three feedback conditions (control, AFOs, vibration) with two sensory conditions (eyes open, or eyes closed and the head tilted back), in random order. Postural sway was measured using a force platform; the mean sway area of the 95% confidence ellipse (AREA) and the mean velocity of the center-of-pressure displacement (VEL) were assessed. Co-contraction of the tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius muscles was measured using electromyography and converted into a co-contraction index (CI). Results: We found significant main effects of the three feedback states on postural sway (AREA, VEL) and the CI. The two sensory conditions exerted significant main effects on postural sway (AREA and VEL). AFOs reduced postural sway to a level significantly lower than that of the control (p = 0.014, p < 0.001) or that afforded by vibration (p = 0.024, p < 0.001). In terms of CI amelioration, the AFOs condition was significantly better than the control (p = 0.004). Vibration did not significantly improve either postural sway or the CI compared to the control condition. There was no significant interaction effect between the three feedback conditions and the two sensory conditions. Conclusion: Lower-extremity devices such as AFOs enhance somatosensory perception, improving postural control and decreasing the CI during static standing.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• 제27권1호
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• pp.79-91
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• 1993

The present study was carried out to determine the effects of cocaine (0.25, 1.0, 10.0 mg/kg, i.p.) on the interactions between spontaneously active neurons within ensembles of simultaneously recorded neurons in the primary somatosensory cortex (Sl, n= 20) and the ventroposterolateral (VPL, n= 16) thalamic nucleus of awake rats. Spike triggered cross correlation histograms were constructed between pairs of simultaneously recorded neurons. Among 101 neuronal pairs analyzed, 22.7% showed correlations indicative of various functional connections among the cortical cells, two corticothalamic interactions and one thalamocortical excitatory interaction. There were also 15 cofiring activities among SI cortical cells. These functional connectivities appeared to be modulated (weakened, abolished, or strengthened) during the 5 to 30 min following cocaine injection. The effects of saline were tested as a control, but it did not appear to alter the functional connectivities. In general, cocaine-induced changes of the functional interactions were mainly due to the concomitant alterations of the uncorrelated background discharges. These results suggest that the biphasic effects of cocaine on the spontaneously established neural networks among the SI cortical and the VPL thalamic cells of conscious rat were mainly indirect. However, various changes of the functional interactions by different doses of cocaine appeared to be a possible neural network mechanism for the cocaine induced modulation of afferent somatosensory transmission.

• 대한감각통합치료학회지
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• 제8권1호
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• pp.41-49
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• 2010

목적 : 다감각 통합은 인지과제나 운동실행을 위해 다양한 감각정보를 사용하는 데 있어서 필수적인 처리과정이다. 특히 시각 및 체감각의 통합은 운동 행동의 주요한 요소이다. 본 연구는 감각통합 과정의 시간적 경로와 뇌의 담당 위치를 파악하기 위해 신경생리학적 연구방법을 사용하여 시각과 체감각의 통합과정과 관련된 뇌의 시간적 및 공간적 특성을 조사하였다. 연구 방법 : 실험실 상황에서 시각과 촉각 자극을 독립적으로 또는 동시에 제시하고 유발전위검사(ERP: Event-Related Potentials)를 통해 통합작용 시 뇌에서 일어나는 신경세포들의 전기생리적활동을 측정하였다. 이때 시각 과 촉각을 각각 제시하여 얻은 유발전위신호들의 선형합과 두 개의 자극을 동시에 제공하였을 시 발생되는 유발전 위신호를 측정하여 비교하였다. 결과 : 시각과 촉각을 독립적으로 각각 제시하여 얻은 유발전위신호(SUM)의 합과 두 개의 자극을 동시에 제공하여 얻은 유발전위신호(SIM)는 같지 않았다. 특히나 자극의 반대측인 오른쪽 일차체감각영역(C4)에서 SIM은 SUM 보다 특정시간대에 통계적으로 유의미한 차이를 보였으며, Bilateral parietal areas(P3, Pz, P4) 뿐만 아니라 일차 시각영역(O1,O2)에서도 두 조건간 추가적인 통합관련 신경활동전기신호에 의한 통계적으로 유의미한 차이를 나타내고 있다. 결론 : 뇌 속에서 2개 이상의 감각이 통합될 경우 이와 관련된 추가적인 신경세포활동이 일어나고 있으며, 이는 다 감각을 동시에 제공할 경우 뇌의 활동을 더욱 활발하게 촉진시키고 있음을 시사한다.

• 한국인지과학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국인지과학회 2010년도 춘계학술대회
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• pp.48-54
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• 2010

INTRODUCTION Interaction between temporal events at the millisecond level is important for visual and tactile interaction. OBJECT The aim of the present study is to identify any neural signature, as reflected in event-related potentials (ERP), for the integrative processes when the two sensory modalities are stimulated in synchrony as opposed to when they are stimulated separately. METHOD The basic strategy was to compare ERP signals obtained with simultaneous visual and tactile stimulation with a linear summation of ERP patterns obtained with each modality stimulated separately. Condition were presented, paired with various stimulus-onset-asynchronies (SOA) ranging from - 300 ms (tactile-first) to 300 ms (visual-first), and in trials where only one modality was stimulated alone. RESULT A positive deviation was located in observed ERP at C4 electrode (contralateral to the stimulated hand) at 200-400 ms, in comparison to the predicted ERP. The deviation was present at all SOAs other than -300ms (tactile-first) and 300 ms (visual-first). There was also a positive deviation at occipital leads at the 50-ms SOA (visual-first) trials. DISCUSSION It suggested that neural signatures of cross-modal integration occur within a limited time-window. The deviations were specifically localized at the contralateral somatosensory and visual cortices, indicating that the integration happens at or before the level of the primary cortices.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• 제27권5호
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• pp.332-338
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of postural control and locomotion on improvement of two point discrimination (TPD), stereognosis (ST) through somatosensory training (SST) on the upper limb (UL). Methods: The subjects were 20 hemiplegia patients who have problems with unilateral neglect after stroke. The patients were divided into two groups, the experimental group (EG) and the control group (CG). In the EG, SST for TPD, ST was performed 18 times, three times a week for six weeks, together with physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT). In the CG conventional PT and OT without SST was performed for six weeks. Several assessment tools were used in comparison of groups; two point discrimination test (TPDT) on forearm (F), thenar (T), hypothenar (TH), thumb tip (TH-T), index finger tip (IN-T), stereognosis test (ST), postural assessment scale for stroke (PASS), and clinical test of sensory interaction on balance (CTSIB) and timed up and go test (TUG). Results: In the CG, conventional PT and OT resulted in statistically improved TPDT (F), ST, PASS, and TUG. In the EG, SST resulted in statistically improved TPDT (F, T, HT, TH-T, IN-T), ST, PASS, and TUG. TPDT-T, ST, and CTSIB with length of displacement with eye open (LDEO) also showed significant improvement between the groups. Conclusion: In both groups TPDT ST, PASS and TUG, and SST had effects on the UL and TPDT, ST and static postural control had greater effects compared with the PG. Therefore, we could assume that TPD and ST are very important in performing human activities including postural control and locomotion.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• 제17권11호
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• pp.3064-3082
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• 2023

During the last decade, several Electronic Orientation Aids devices have been proposed to solve the autonomy problems of visually impaired people. When hearing is considered the primary sense for Visually Impaired people (VI) and it is generally loaded with the environment, the use of tactile sense can be considered a solution to transmit directional information. This paper presents a new wearable haptic system based on four motors implemented in shoes, while six directions can be played. This study aims to introduce an interface design and investigate an appropriate means of spatial information delivery through haptic sense. The first experiment of the proposed system was performed with 15 users in an indoor environment. The results showed that the users were able to recognize, with high accuracy, the directions displayed on their feet. The second experiment was conducted in an outdoor environment with five blindfolded users who were guided along 120 meters. The users, guided only by the haptic system, successfully reached their destinations. The potential of tactile-foot stimulation to help VI understand Electronic Orientation Aids (EOA) instructions was discussed, and future challenges were defined.