Between central control and local responsiveness: striking the balance

Balance and coordination are critical components involved in the control of movement. Many sensory receptors and neural processing units are required to help individuals maintain balance while performing various activities. Deficits in balance and coordination occur in patients suffering from movement disorders or due to aging. Therefore, scientists are trying to understand the pathophysiology behind these conditions. One way to do that is by using rodent models and testing them on behavioral...

Presented here is a quantitative, clinical balance assessment method suitable for stroke patients with balance...

Here we offer a protocol that allows the user to selectively change affordances and/or constraints on movements that are relevant for recovering balance after postural...

Deficits in fine motor coordination can be assessed with the balance beam test. Performance on the beam is quantified by the speed at which the beam is traversed and the number of times the mouse slips on the...

Thorough preclinical testing of drugs that act in the central nervous system often involves assessing and comparing drug biodistribution in association with specific routes of administration. Here, three commonly used methods of systemic delivery (intravenous, intraperitoneal, and oral) as well as a method for local delivery (convection-enhanced delivery) are demonstrated in...

Electrochemistry is the science involved in the interconversion of electrical and chemical reactions. Such reactions are called reduction-oxidation, or redox reactions. These important reactions are defined by changes in oxidation states for one or more reactant elements and include a subset of reactions involving the transfer of electrons between reactant species. Electrochemistry as a field has evolved to yield sufficient insights on the fundamental principles of redox chemistry and multiple...