Neurophysiological parameters

Dynamometer Presang a handle, etc. repeatedly against resistance 15-60s 

Aiming Peg board Placing a dot, the beam of a light pen, etc. into circles or squares arranged in various patterns Inserting pegs into rows of holes in a board A few minutes 

Saccadic eye movements Fast conjugate eye movements, e.g. when reading or following moving objects A few minutes 

Reaction time Motor reaction to simple or complex acoustic or optical stimuli (complex reaction time tasks are also subsumed under tests of attention and concentration) 2-IOmin 

Car driving, flight simulator Appropriate reaction to and behavior in simulated road or air traffic situations 10-30 min 

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Recordings can be made while subjects are engaged in other activities, and it is then possible to relate aspects of the ongoing performance and the subjective state to neurophysiological parameters. 

Mick, D.L. 1974. Collaborative study of neiirobehavioral and neurophysiological parameters in relation to occupational exposure to organophosphate pesticides. In Behavioral Toxicology Early Detection of Occupational Hazards. C. Xintaras, B.L. Johnson and I. de Groot, eds. Center for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Washington, DC. pp. 152-153. 

A superficially related clinical procedure for control of chronic pain is electrical transcutaneous or spinal cord nerve stimulation. A doubleblind placebo-controlled study indicated that such analgesia is not naloxone-reversible. The neurophysiological mechanisms mediating stress-induced autoanalgesia are complex and depend subtly on the parameters of the applied stress. Electrical stress-induced analgesia in animals apparently involves both opioid and non-opioid substrates. 

Kerr et al. [32] developed an assay based on an in vitro neurophysiological model. This assay measured changes in antidromic and orthodromic spike amplimdes and afferent action potential volley in rat hippocampus slices after toxin exposure. The authors felt they could differentiate brevetoxins, saxitoxin, and domoic acid from characteristic signatures based on these parameters. The assay was relatively rapid and was also demonstrated to be useful in the evaluation of shellfish extracts. However, the use of animals, plus the complexities of tissue preparation and the need for expensive equipment and highly trained operators severely limited the usefulness of this assay. 

A biomedical control system that utilizes a neurophysiologically-based approach has been developed for use in Functional Neuromuscular Stimulation (FNS) systems [Abbas, 1995 Abbas and Chizeck, 1995). FNS is a rehabilitation engineering technique that uses computer-controlled electrical stimuli to activate paralyzed muscle. The task of a control system is to determine appropriate stimulation levels to generate a given movement or posture. The neural network control system utilizes a block diagram structure that is based on hierarchical models of the locomotor control system. It also utilizes a heterogenous network of neurons, some of which are capable of endogenous oscillation. This network has been shown to provide rapid adaptation of the control system parameters [Abbas and Chizeck, 1995 Abbas and Triolo, 1997] and has been shown to exhibit modulation of reflex responses [Abbas, 1995]. 

Separate but concurrent research efforts by many investigators in basic neurophysiology were making significant advancements in developing an understanding of how cortical and spinal neural systems control motor function. Extensive research on control of movement by hundreds of neuroscientists has revealed correlations between parameters of limb movement and neural activity in many motor centers, including the primary motor cortex, premotor and supplementary motor cortex, cerebellum, and spinal cord. 

Gasser, T, Bacher, P., Mocks, J. (1982). Transformations towards the normal distribution of broad band spectral parameters of the EEG. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 53, 119-124. 

Gobel, H. et al., 1994. Effect of peppermint and eucalyptus oil preparations on neurophysiological and experimental algesimetric headache parameters. 14 228-234. 

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