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BACKGROUNDAutistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) presents with a multitude of problems such as physical, social, emotional, psychological, etc. Most common physical problems are impairments in standing balance and posture. It is unknown whether these impairments have any association between tactile sensation or are purely due to deficits in sensory processing and integration. We hypothesized that foot tactile sensation in ASD is positively correlated to performance in standing balance as measured by Pediatric Balance scale.METHODSThe data collected at Heartshare Human Services of New York was used for secondary analysis. It consisted of 12 participants and included: 1. Muscle and joint ROM testing to rule out any muscle involvement in balance problems. 2. Tactile sensation testing at four sites on sole of foot bilaterally using Semmes Weinstein monofilament. 3. Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS) for balance testing.RESULTSWe found significant positive correlation between cutaneous tactile sensation (SWF) and Pediatric Balance scale (PBS) measures in our participants i.e., reduced tactile sensation was moderately associated with impaired balance score.CONCLUSIONSWe propose that during conventional clinical assessment for individuals with ASD, foot tactile sensation should not be overlooked, and included as a part of somato-sensory assessment. In addition, enhancing foot tactile sensation could also be used for targeted interventions to improve balance in children with ASD.

Dexterous manipulation may be guided by explicit information about object property. Such a manipulation requires fine modulation of digit position and forces using explicit cues. Young adults can form arbitrary cue-object property associations for accurate modulation of digit position and forces. Aging, in contrast, might alter this conditional learning. Older adults are impaired in accurately modulating their digit forces using explicit cues about object property. However, it is not known whether older adults can use explicit cues about object property to modulate digit position. In this study, we instructed ten healthy older and ten young adults to learn a manipulation task using arbitrary color cues about object center of mass location. Subjects were required to exert clockwise, counterclockwise, or no torque on the object according to the color cue and lift the object while minimizing its tilt across sixty trials. Older adults produced larger torque error during the conditional learning trials than young adults. This resulted in a significantly slower rate of learning in older adults. Older, but not young adults, failed to modulate their digit position and forces using the color cues. Similar aging-related differences were not observed while learning the task using implicit knowledge about object property. Our findings suggest that aging impairs the ability to use explicit cues about object property to modulate both digit position and forces for dexterous manipulation. We discuss our findings in relation to age-related changes in the processes and the neural network for conditional learning.

BackgroundPrimary somatosensory cortex (S1) is involved in pain processing and thus its suppression using neuromodulatory techniques such as continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) might be a potential pain management strategy in patients with neuropathic pain. S1 cTBS is known to elevate pain threshold in young adults. However, the persistence of this effect is unknown.Objective/HypothesisWe hypothesized persistent elevation of pain threshold following cTBS over S1 in healthy, young adults.MethodsWe recruited ten subjects in a sham-controlled crossover design and recorded their electrical pain threshold (EPT) for 40 min following cTBS over S1. We assessed corticospinal excitability (CSE) to rule out the involvement of primary motor cortex due to spread of current.ResultscTBS over S1 elevated EPT without modulating CSE compared to sham stimulation. EPT was elevated for 40 min post-cTBS.ConclusionsS1 can be focally targeted using cTBS for a longer lasting pain relief in patients.

Neuronal firing rate variability during planning has been found to contribute to trial-to-trial variability in primate behavior. However, in humans, whether planning related mechanisms contribute to trial-to-trial behavioral variability remains unknown. We investigated the time-course of trial-to-trial variability in corticospinal excitability (CSE) using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) while subjects planned to perform a self-paced reach-to-grasp task. We hypothesized that CSE variability will be modulated during task planning and that such a modulation would explain trial-to-trial behavioral variability. Able-bodied individuals were visually cued to plan their grip force before exertion of either 30% or 5% of maximum force on an object. TMS was delivered at different time points following a cue that instructed the force level. We first modeled the relation between CSE magnitude and its variability at rest (n=12) to study the component of CSE variability during task planning that was not related to changes in CSE magnitude (n=12). We found an increase in CSE variability during task planning at 30% but not at 5% of force. This effect was temporally dissociated from the decrease in CSE magnitude. Importantly, the increase in CSE variability during planning explained 64% of inter-individual differences in time to peak force rate trial-to-trial variability. These results were found to be repeatable across studies and robust to different analysis methods. Our findings suggest that the planning-related mechanisms underlying modulation in CSE variability and CSE magnitude are distinct. Notably, the extent of modulation in planning-related variability in corticospinal system within individuals may explain their trial-to-trial behavioral variability.

Humans are unique in their ability to perform dexterous object manipulation in a wide variety of scenarios. However, previous work has used a grasping context that predominantly elicits memory-based control of digit forces by constraining where the object should be grasped. For this ‘constrained’ grasping context, primary motor cortex (M1) is involved in storage and retrieval of digit forces used in previous manipulations. In contrast, when choice of digit contact points is allowed (‘unconstrained’ grasping), behavioral studies revealed that forces are adjusted, on a trial-to-trial basis, as a function of digit position. This suggests a role of online feedback that detects digit position, rather than memory, for force control. However, despite the ubiquitous nature of unconstrained hand-object interactions in activities of daily living, the underlying neural mechanisms are unknown. Using non-invasive brain stimulation and electroencephalography, we found the role of M1 to be sensitive to grasping condition. While confirming the role of M1 in storing and retrieving learned digit forces and position in ‘constrained’ grasping, we also found that M1 is involved in modulating digit forces to digit position in unconstrained grasping. Furthermore, we found that digit force modulation to position relies on sensorimotor integration mediated by primary sensory cortex (S1) and M1. This finding supports the notion of a greater contribution of somatosensory feedback of digit position in unconstrained grasping. We conclude that the relative contribution of memory and online feedback based on whether contact points are constrained or unconstrained modulates sensorimotor cortical interactions for dexterous manipulation.