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Acute aerobic exercise alters neurotrophic and growth factor concentrations, increases neural activity and improves cognitive and motor function. Additionally, acute exercise increases excitation and reduces inhibition in the motor cortex as assessed via transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). The propensity for exercise-induced neuroplasticity may be greater in females, as females show greater neuroplasticity induction following non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) compared to males. In females, NIBS yields greater neuroplasticity during ovulation, when estradiol levels are higher, compared to menstruation, suggesting that ovarian hormones may also impact exercise-induced neuroplasticity. To date, it is unknown whether biological sex and ovarian hormones impact neuroplasticity induced by acute aerobic exercise. The present thesis investigated the effects of biological sex and ovarian hormones on the magnitude and direction of neuroplasticity induced by acute aerobic exercise. Fourteen females and fourteen age- and fitness-matched males participated in two sessions in which dependent measures were acquired before and following a single bout of aerobic exercise. Females were tested in the follicular (~day 7) and luteal (~day 21) phases of the menstrual cycle and males were also tested on two occasions separated by ~14 days. The exercise intervention consisted of 5 minutes of warm up, 20 minutes of moderate intensity continuous cycling at 65-70% maximal heart rate, and 5 minutes cool down. TMS was used to obtain motor evoked potential (MEP) recruitment curves and short interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) from the right first dorsal interosseous muscle. Blood measures of estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor were assessed before exercise on both testing sessions. Results indicated that only females showed increases in MEP recruitment curve following exercise, and this occurred regardless of menstrual cycle phase. SICI did not change following exercise for males or females on either testing session. The estrogen to progesterone ratio in females was greater in the follicular phase compared to the luteal phase. There was a trend towards greater serum BDNF levels in females in the luteal phase compared to the follicular phase. Sex hormones and BDNF levels did not vary across sessions in males. These findings indicate biological sex, but not ovarian hormones, is an important factor to consider when inducing neuroplasticity using acute exercise. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Semantically reversible sentences, i.e., sentences wherein both characters can potentially perform the given action, have long been used to understand the various mechanisms involved in successful sentence comprehension. Over the decades, studies have established that sentences with non-canonical word-orders such as passive voice sentences are more difficult to process than canonical counterparts such as active voice sentences using psycholinguistic, neuroimaging, lesion-based, and more recently transcranial brain stimulation methods such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). In addition to understanding the cognitive processes involved, these studies have also attempted to uncover the underlying neural correlates. Various parts of the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes have been thought to be critical for different functions. In the recent years, the parietal regions have garnered considerable attention. In particular, various studies have found the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) to be involved in the comprehension of semantically reversible sentences, particularly when they have non-canonical word-orders. In this thesis, I attempted to build on this literature and further understand the role of the IPS in sentence comprehension. More specifically I followed-up on two TMS studies by Finocchiaro and colleagues that looked at reversible Italian active and passive sentences. Online repetitive TMS (rTMS) to the posterior portion of the left IPS (henceforth, l-pIPS) affected only the processing of passive sentences in both experiments. In fact, one of the studies also found an effect on ‘passive’ pseudosentences, thus, prompting the authors to suggest that the l-pIPS affects passive sentences irrespective of semantic meaningfulness. The authors concluded that this region is likely to be involved in sentence comprehension, particularly at the stage where thematic reanalysis, i.e., a revision of the initially ascribed thematic roles, occurs. However, these studies were unable to discern if these effects were seen on reversible passives due to their reversibility, passive voice, or the non-canonical word-order seen in passive sentences. They also raised questions regarding whether the region is important in processing only thematic reversibility or is also involved in comprehending reversible sentences without thematic roles (e.g., comparative sentences). I ran three experiments to better understand these factors. In Chapter 1 I summarise the literature on the comprehension of reversible sentences. I discuss findings from behavioural, lesion-based, neuroimaging, and TMS studies that have formed the basis of the current thesis. I conclude by bringing to attention some of the questions raised by these studies that I have attempted to answer in the subsequent chapters. In Chapter 2 I attempted to understand the role of passive voice and reversibility in reanalysis and sentence comprehension. To do this I used a sentence comprehension task while administering online rTMS to the l-pIPS. Participants performed a forced-choice task where they were required to read reversible and irreversible Italian active and passive voice sentences and identify either the agent or the theme in alternate blocks. The experiment showed an effect of rTMS only on reversible passive sentences. While these results are in line with the previous studies, they also draw attention to a critical aspect of comprehension of passive voice sentences. They suggest that passive voice in itself may be insufficient to trigger reanalysis. Instead, it is likely that reanalysis is triggered by the co-occurrence of numerous factors such as voice and reversibility. However, as with the previous studies, this study still does not clarify the role of non-canonical word-order or passive voice per se. In an attempt to distinguish between the two, I ran an rTMS experiment with a sentence-picture verification task in Chapter 3. The experiment used reversible active and passive voice sentences in Hindi. The advantage that Hindi offers in this regard is that both actives and passives are typically presented in the agent-theme-action order. Consequently, such passives may not require the reassigning of originally established thematic roles. Stimulation to the l-pIPS showed no effects on these actives or passives. Interestingly, these null results serve as supporting evidence (albeit, weak) that non-canonical word-order may be essential for thematic reanalysis. If passive voice alone, or even a combination of passive voice and reversibility were sufficient to engender reanalysis, stimulation should have had effects on the passives even in the absence of a non-canonical word-order (as seen in the stimuli of this experiment). Finally, I attempted to understand if the region was involved only in comprehending reversible sentences with thematic role assignment, or also played a role in reversible sentences without thematic role assignment such as comparative sentences (where one of the two characters is the owner of a given property/feature). To do this, I ran the final rTMS experiment reported in Chapter 4. Participants received online stimulation to the l-pIPS while performing a sentence-picture verification task. The stimuli sentences consisted of reversible Italian declarative active and passive sentences, and comparative of majority or minority sentences. Comparatives were used because unlike Italian actives and passives, both types of comparatives are identical in word-order and other morphosyntactic features. In an attempt to maintain the visual complexity across stimuli pictures, same pictures were used to depict the relationships in both declarative and comparative sentences. The results of this study are rather puzzling. Unlike previous studies no effects were found on passive sentences. In terms of the comparative sentences, a selective effect was seen on the ‘easier’ comparatives of majority. These results call into question previous findings which have found an effect on the more ‘difficult’ sentence type, i.e., the passives. The effect of TMS on the comparatives of majority indicates the involvement of the l-pIPS in sentence comprehension yet again. However, these results to do not clarify what specific features of a sentence the l-pIPS helps comprehend. Moreover, given the consistent effect of rTMS on reversible Italian passives in the previous experiments, and the effect on comparatives of majority, it is possible that the current results may have been confounded by the use of complex stimuli. Coupled with the findings from the Finocchiaro studies, this thesis establishes the role of the l-pIPS in sentence comprehension. In particular, the results of the two Finocchiaro studies and Chapter 2 suggest that the co-occurrence of passive voice and reversibility is essential for reanalysis. While the results of Chapter 3 concur with these findings, they also strongly indicate that these features must co-occur with a third factor, namely a non-canonical word-order, to trigger reanalysis. Lastly, the results of Chapter 4 clarify the l-pIPS’ involvement in sentence comprehension. However, it leaves the exact role of the l-pIPS unclear in comprehending reversible sentences without thematic role assignment. The current thesis has advanced our understanding of some key factors responsible for reanalysis, and its neural correlates. Future studies can aim to understand these factors better by exploiting parallel versions of the same sentence type, and by studying different sentence types in isolation. For example, Hindi passives can be presented in both agent-theme-action and theme-agent-action word-orders. Contrasting such versions may help answer questions pertaining to word-order. On the other hand, studying sentences like declaratives and comparatives in separate experiments or even separate sessions may help simplify stimuli, thereby giving us clearer results.

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Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-02-21T15:18:26Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Hercílio Barbosa Silva Júnior - 2017.pdf: 6241630 bytes, checksum: c5de576a278b77a81feaa50f67768637 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-02-21T15:18:56Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Hercílio Barbosa Silva Júnior - 2017.pdf: 6241630 bytes, checksum: c5de576a278b77a81feaa50f67768637 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-02-21T15:18:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Hercílio Barbosa Silva Júnior - 2017.pdf: 6241630 bytes, checksum: c5de576a278b77a81feaa50f67768637 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-19 / The research investigate the data related to the researchers work on Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Brazil, as well as the groups, lines, research projects and areas of knowledge that are involved with the subject. / A pesquisa investiga os dados relacionados à atuação dos pesquisadores sobre TMS no Brasil, bem como, os grupos, as linhas, os projetos de pesquisa e as áreas do conhecimento que estão envolvidas com a temática.

Transkranijinė magnetinė stimuliacija (TMS) – tai modernus neinvazinis vaistams rezistentiškų psichiatrinių sutrikimų gydymo būdas. Fiziologiniai TMS tyrimai pasižymi įvairiais, dažnai prieštaringais rezultatais, daugeliu atvejų didžiausias dėmesys skiriamas betarpiškiems poveikiams po vienos TMS procedūros, bet ne po pilno terapinio kurso. Manoma, kad rezultatų įvairovę TMS praktikoje įtakoja skirtingi stimuliacijos parametrai ir netikslumai parenkant stimuliuojamą zoną smegenyse. Nors TMS terapija dažnai traktuojama kaip švelnesnė alternatyva elektros impulsų terapijai (EIT), palyginamųjų fiziologinių šių metodikų tyrimų labai trūksta. Darbo tikslas buvo įvertinti TMS terapijos kurso poveikį bioelektriniam galvos smegenų aktyvumui ir palyginti jį su EIT terapijos poveikiu. Buvo tirta aukšto ir žemo dažnių (10 Hz ir 1 Hz) TMS terapijos įtaka EEG dažnių galios spektrui bei sukeltiniam klausos potencialui P300, naudojant standartinį ir neuronavigacinį taikinio pozicionavimą. TMS sukelti EEG pokyčiai palyginti su EIT terapijos sukeltais EEG pokyčiais, išmatuota TMS terapijos sąlygotų pokyčių dinamika kelių mėnesių bėgyje. Rezultatai parodė, kad TMS terapijos pasekoje smegenyse ryškiausiai padidėja delta dažnio galia. Naudojant standartinį pozicionavimą 10 Hz TMS sukėlė įvairesnius ir intensyvesnius EEG galios spektro pokyčius nei 1 Hz TMS. Pritaikius neuronavigacinę sistemą 10 Hz TMS atveju sumažėjo teta ir alfa dažnių galios pokyčiai. Praėjus keliems mėnesiams nuo TMS... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a modern non invasive method of drug resistant psychiatric disorder treatment. TMS physiology research is hindered by variable, often controversial results. In most studies main attention is being focused on immediate effects after single TMS procedure rather than the influence of a complete therapy course. It is considered that variability of results in TMS practice is caused by different stimulation parameters and imprecision of stimulated area placement in the brain. Although TMS therapy is often viewed as a milder alternative to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), comparative physiological studies of these two methods are very rare. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of rTMS therapy course on bioelectrical brain activity and compare it to an ECT effect. Research included the effect of high and low frequency (10 Hz and 1 Hz) TMS on EEG band power spectrum and auditory evoked potential P300, using both standard and neuronavigated target positioning. TMS evoked EEG changes were also compared to the changes of ECT. Change dynamics after several months of TMS therapy were also measured. Results showed that after TMS therapy the most notable change in the brain occurs in the form of delta power increase. When using standard positioning 10 Hz TMS evokes more diverse and intense EEG band power spectrum changes than the 1 Hz TMS. Application of neuronavigation system decreases theta and alpha band power changes in 10 Hz TMS... [to full text]

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a modern non invasive method of drug resistant psychiatric disorder treatment. TMS physiology research is hindered by variable, often controversial results. In most studies main attention is being focused on immediate effects after single TMS procedure rather than the influence of a complete therapy course. It is considered that variability of results in TMS practice is caused by different stimulation parameters and imprecision of stimulated area placement in the brain. Although TMS therapy is often viewed as a milder alternative to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), comparative physiological studies of these two methods are very rare. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of rTMS therapy course on bioelectrical brain activity and compare it to an ECT effect. Research included the effect of high and low frequency (10 Hz and 1 Hz) TMS on EEG band power spectrum and auditory evoked potential P300, using both standard and neuronavigated target positioning. TMS evoked EEG changes were also compared to the changes of ECT. Change dynamics after several months of TMS therapy were also measured. Results showed that after TMS therapy the most notable change in the brain occurs in the form of delta power increase. When using standard positioning 10 Hz TMS evokes more diverse and intense EEG band power spectrum changes than the 1 Hz TMS. Application of neuronavigation system decreases theta and alpha band power changes in 10 Hz TMS... [to full text] / Transkranijinė magnetinė stimuliacija (TMS) – tai modernus neinvazinis vaistams rezistentiškų psichiatrinių sutrikimų gydymo būdas. Fiziologiniai TMS tyrimai pasižymi įvairiais, dažnai prieštaringais rezultatais, daugeliu atvejų didžiausias dėmesys skiriamas betarpiškiems poveikiams po vienos TMS procedūros, bet ne po pilno terapinio kurso. Manoma, kad rezultatų įvairovę TMS praktikoje įtakoja skirtingi stimuliacijos parametrai ir netikslumai parenkant stimuliuojamą zoną smegenyse. Nors TMS terapija dažnai traktuojama kaip švelnesnė alternatyva elektros impulsų terapijai (EIT), palyginamųjų fiziologinių šių metodikų tyrimų labai trūksta. Darbo tikslas buvo įvertinti TMS terapijos kurso poveikį bioelektriniam galvos smegenų aktyvumui ir palyginti jį su EIT terapijos poveikiu. Buvo tirta aukšto ir žemo dažnių (10 Hz ir 1 Hz) TMS terapijos įtaka EEG dažnių galios spektrui bei sukeltiniam klausos potencialui P300, naudojant standartinį ir neuronavigacinį taikinio pozicionavimą. TMS sukelti EEG pokyčiai palyginti su EIT terapijos sukeltais EEG pokyčiais, išmatuota TMS terapijos sąlygotų pokyčių dinamika kelių mėnesių bėgyje. Rezultatai parodė, kad TMS terapijos pasekoje smegenyse ryškiausiai padidėja delta dažnio galia. Naudojant standartinį pozicionavimą 10 Hz TMS sukėlė įvairesnius ir intensyvesnius EEG galios spektro pokyčius nei 1 Hz TMS. Pritaikius neuronavigacinę sistemą 10 Hz TMS atveju sumažėjo teta ir alfa dažnių galios pokyčiai. Praėjus keliems mėnesiams nuo TMS... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:28:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MorganaMN_DISSERT.pdf: 8378987 bytes, checksum: 55d0d3823fa6d9c47865791e3edefa62 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-24 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / Mirror therapy (MT) is being used as a rehabilitation tool in various diseases, including stroke. Although some studies have shown its effectiveness, little is known about neural mechanisms that underlie the rehabilitation process. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing cortical neuromodulation after a single MT intervention in ischemic stroke survivors, by means of by functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). Fifteen patients participated in a single thirty minutes MT session. fMRI data was analyzed bilaterally in the following Regions of Interest (ROI): Supplementary Motor Area (SMA), Premotor cortex (PMC), Primary Motor cortex (M1), Primary Sensory cortex (S1) and Cerebellum. In each ROI, changes in the percentage of occupation and beta values were computed. Group fMRI data showed a significant decreased in the percentage of occupation in PMC and cerebellum, contralateral to the affected hand (p <0.05). Significant increase in beta values was observed in the following contralateral motor areas: SMA, Cerebellum, PMC and M1 (p<0,005). Moreover, a significant decrease was observed in the following ipsilateral motor areas: PMC and M1 (p <0,001). In S1 a bilateral significant decrease (p<0.0005) was observed.TMS consisted of the analysis of Motor Evoked Potential (MEP) of M1 hotspot. A significant increase in the amplitude of the MEP was observed after therapy in the group (p<0,0001) and individually in 4 patients (p <0.05). Altogether, our results imply that single MT intervention is already capable of promoting changes in neurobiological markers toward patterns observed in healthy subjects. Furthermore, the contralateral hemisphere motor areas changes are opposite to the ones in the ipsilateral side, suggesting an increase system homeostasis. / A Terapia Espelho (TE) vem sendo usada como ferramenta de reabilita??o para v?rias doen?as, incluindo o Acidente Vascular Cerebral (AVC). Embora alguns estudos tenham mostrado sua efic?cia cl?nica, pouco se sabe sobre os mecanismos neurais que levam ? melhora observada. Desse modo, este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a neuromodula??o cortical promovida pela interven??o ?nica da TE em pacientes acometidos por AVC, por meio da Resson?ncia Magn?tica funcional (fMRI, do ingl?s Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) e da Estimula??o Magn?tica Transcraniana (TMS, do ingl?s Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation). Quinze pacientes participaram de sess?o ?nica de trinta minutos de TE. Os dados de fMRI foram analisados nas seguintes regi?es de interesse (ROI), bilateralmente: ?rea Motora Suplementar (AMS), c?rtex pr?-motor (PM), c?rtex motor prim?rio (M1), c?rtex sensorial prim?rio (S1) e Cerebelo. Em cada ROI, as mudan?as na porcentagem de ocupa??o e os valores de beta foram avaliados. Os resultados revelaram redu??o significativa no percentual de ocupa??o no PM e cerebelo contralateral ? m?o afetada (p <0,05). Al?m disso, foi observado aumento significativo nos valores de beta nas seguintes ?reas motoras contralaterais: AMS, Cerebelo, PM e M1 (p <0,005) e diminui??o significativa nas seguintes ?reas motoras ipsilaterais: PM e M1 (p < 0,001). Nas ?reas sensoriais foi observada redu??o em S1 bilateralmente (p <0,0005). Pela TMS foi analisado o Potencial Evocado Motor (PEM) sobre o hot spot de M1. Aumento significativo na amplitude do PEM foi observado ap?s a terapia no grupo (p<0,0001), e individualmente em 4 pacientes (p <0,05). Assim, nossos resultados indicam que interven??o ?nica da TE muda marcadores neurobiol?gicos em dire??o ao padr?o observado em indiv?duos saud?veis. Al?m disso, as altera??es nas ?reas motoras do hemisf?rio contralateral s?o opostas as do lado ipsilateral, sugerindo um aumento na homeostase do sistema.

[pt] A crescente competição entre as empresas ao redor do mundo tem levado à necessidade de aumento da competitividade para que as empresas possam crescer, ou, até mesmo, sobreviver. A logística, especialmente o transporte, ganhou grande importância com a globalização, onde as partes de um mesmo produto provêm de diversos países, muitas vezes distantes uns dos outros. O aumento da competição exige tomada de decisão cada vez mais rápidas e mais eficientes. Para auxiliar estas decisões são feitas análises, internas e externas à empresa, dentre elas, análises sobre a demanda histórica. Este trabalho se volta ao desenvolvimento de uma ferramenta de apoio às decisões relacionadas à gestão dos transportes, através da coleta, organização e descrição dos dados históricos armazenados. Também, neste trabalho, serão apresentadas situações de tomada de decisão, nas quais a ferramenta presta um importante auxílio. / [en] The growing competition among companies around the world has led to the need for increased competitiveness for companies can grow, or even survive. The logistics, especially transportation, gained importance with globalization, where pieces of the same product come from different countries, often distant from each other. The increase in competition requires decision-making ever faster and more efficient. To assist these decisions are made analysis, internal and external to the company, among them, analysis on historical demand. This study turns to the development of a tool to support decisions related to the transport management, through collecting, organization and description of historical data stored. Also, in this study, will be presented decision-making situations, in which the tool provides an important assistance.