Main description:

The ability to use tools skillfully is generally regarded as one of the major achievements in the evolutionary development of the human nervous system. It is possible for controlled movements of muscles to be executed only if sensory information is integrated into complex neural circuits at various hierarchical levels. The chapters in this volume deal with basic and clinical aspects of integrative processing of sensory and motor activities. New findings emphasize the important influence of somatosensory activity such as tactile, proprioceptive, noxious cutaneous, and articular input on motor output. Furthermore, recordings of evoked potentials as well as unit recordings indicate that sensory and cortical activities are highly interrelated. Control of muscles by motoneurons is exerted both electrically and chemically. Disturbed muscle-motoneuron interaction is reflected in ultrastructural motoneuron morphology and may be of importance in the pathogenesis of motoneuron disease. Long loop reflex testing under various pathological conditions provides insight into disturbed sensory motor circuitry in humans. Electrophysiological recording as well as neurochemical and im munohistochemical studies elucidate the neural circuitry of basal ganglia and their neural connections, thus providing improved therapeutic concepts. The role of the thalamus and thalamocortical connections in sensory motor processing is of particular interest, because motor disturbances such as tremor or dystonia can be effectively relieved by stereotaxic interventions at the subthalamic or thalamic level.

Contents:

I. Somatosensory Activity Relevant for Motor Output.- Tactile Afferent Input Influencing Motor Coordination During Precision Grip.- Neurophysiological Mechanisms Underlining Proprioceptive Sensations.- Noxious Cutaneous Input and the Tactile Exploratory Function of the Skin of the Hand.- New Aspects of the Role of Articular Receptors in Motor Control.- II. Central Motor Actions of Sensory Input.- Exteroceptive Input to the Motor Cortex in Man.- Reorganization of Projection from the Sensory Cortex to the Motor Cortex Following Deprivation of Thalamocortical Projection.- III. The Muscles and Their Neural Control.- Properties of Motoneurones and Motor Units in Relation to Problems of Sensorimotor Integration.- Activity of Motoneurons in Man under Stationary Conditions.- Automatic Sorting and Analysis of Multiunit EMG Recordings.- Functional Implications of Structure and Synaptology of Motor Neurons in Motor Neuron Disease.- Muscle Thixotropy and Its Effect on Spindle and Reflex Responses to Stretch.- Cytochemical Reevaluation of Location and Translocation of Acetylcholinesterase in the Motor End-Plate.- Control of Transmitter Release at Cholinergic and Glutamatergic Nerve Terminals.- Neurotrophism - Another Approach.- Persistent Depolarization of Muscle Fibers: A Common Cause of Weakness in Muscle Disorders.- IV. Convergence on the Final Common Path.- Ultrastructural Analysis of Target-Dependent Properties of Mammalian Motoneurones.- Ultrastructural Analysis of C-Type Synapses in Thoracic Motoneurones of the Cat.- Physiology and Pathophysiology of Reciprocal Inhibition in the Human Forearm.- V. Long-Loop Reflexes: Concepts and Consequences.- The Use of Short- and Long-Latency Reflex Testing in Leg Muscles of Neurological Patients.- Long-Latency Stretch Responses in Man - Segmental versus Suprasegmental Hypothesis.- Habituation of the Human Long-Latency Stretch Reflex and Its Cerebral Correlates.- Torque-Induced Stretch Responses - Changes Due to Hypotonia.- VI. Motor Functions of Basal Ganglia.- The Basal Ganglia and Sensorimotor Integration.- Facets of Akinesia in Parkinson's Disease.- Immunohistochemical Studies on Neurotransmitters in Rat Basal Ganglia.- CNS Peptides in Huntington's Chorea.- Neuropeptides in Central Movement Disorders of Man.- Analysis of Extrapyramidal Motor Symptoms from Stereoencephalotomy.- Stimulation for the Treatment of Motor Disorders.- VII. Thalamocortical Contributions to Sensory Motor Integration.- The Physiological Basis of VIM Thalamotomy for Involuntary Movement Disorders.- SEP and Muscle Responses Related to Thalamic (VL) and Subthalamic Structures in Man.- Electrical Stimulation in Human of the Sensory Thalamic Nuclei and Effects on Dyskinesias and Spasticity.- VIII. Posture and Movement: Interactions and Disturbances.- Multi-Joint Arm Posture - New Perspectives on the Control of Arm Posture.- Bimanual Load-Lifting Task. A Model for the Study of Coordination Between Posture and Movement.- Neuromotor Psychophysical Aspects of Central Programming and Peripheral Regulation of Movement in Humans.- IX. Effects of Growth, Degeneration and Regeneration on the Sensory Motor System.- Neurologically Effective Nerve Growths in the Mammalian Brain: Recent Work of Tsukahara and Kawaguchi.- What can Microneurography Tell the Clinician About Nerve Regeneration or Disease?.- Effects of Dopamine-Rich Grafts on Sensorimotor Impairments in Dopamine-Depleted Rats.