Том 42, № 3 (2016)

A new type of brain-computer interface was elaborated. It considers a variety of brain activity parameters to determine the type of mental operation being performed at the moment. The corresponding algorithm previously developed in the lab was modified for real-time application. The possibility of interface application for cognitive skills training was investigated. In the proposed paradigm, as soon as the EEG spectral pattern was adequate for the current task, some clue to the solution was presented. As we supposed, such positive biofeedback should facilitate memorization of the current brain state. After just one learning session, the differences in EEG spectra, corresponding to two types of tasks, were concentrated in more narrow frequency ranges. It indicates a decrease in mental effort. Moreover, the majority of subjects succeeded in solving the tasks faster, which is evidence of increased efficiency. The developed interface could be used for the new type of training, based on objective features of brain activity.

The mechanisms underlying the locomotion recovery in poststroke patients remain unknown. Navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) is a new method to evaluate the functional state of the motor system. Using of the “Regent” soft exoskeleton complex (SEC) allow to correct walking pattern significantly. The aim of this study was to evaluate the capability of nTMS to assess changes in gait cortical control using SEC in poststroke patients. 14 patients of the subcortical stroke (the mean age was 53.0 years, the mean time from stroke onset was 14.2 months) received 10 training sessions with SEC. The patients received nTMS before and after the sessions, as well as they were clinically evaluated by the Fugl–Meyer scale section for lower extremity and a 10-m walk test. Whereas a reliable reduction in the time of walking for 10 m was recorded after the sessions with the application of SEC, the Fugl-Meyer scale assessment remained unchanged. During nTMS, a reduction was recorded in the average latency of evoked motor response from the affected hemisphere, as well as various patterns of changes in the size and localization of cortical representations of the leg muscles. We have concluded that the nTMS method allowed us to identify the individual patterns of changes in the cortical representations of leg muscles as a result of the use of SEC in post-stroke patients with injuries in a group of locomotor system elements, thus identifying not only the fact of the undergoing neuroplastic processes, but also their direction.

Cerebral palsy (CP) considerably impairs the ability to maintain upright stance. The effects of locomotor training and functional electrical stimulation (FES) on postural control were determined in 27 children aged 6–12 years with severe CP. The severity level of the clinical manifestations of CP was classified as 3 according to the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS). All patients participated in 15 30-min mechanical therapy sessions using robot-assisted passive stepping. In 12 out of 27 children, the locomotion therapy was accompanied by FES. Stabilometry and plantography tests were performed in 23 healthy age-matched children. Postural control in children with CP differed from the stabilograms of healthy children in a forward shift of the center of pressure (COP) projection; higher values of the COP trajectory area and length, the mean amplitude of the COP oscillations, and the absence of COP response to the eyes closed condition. After treatment, the posturographic characteristics tended to normalize in relation to the values obtained in neurologically intact children. The improvement was observed in 43% of children without FES and in 75% of children in the group with FES. Analysis of plantograms revealed normalization of footprints in children who received FES. Thus, it was demonstrated that FES combined with locomotor training resulted in the improvement in vertical posture control in children with severe CP.

The pattern of cortical functional connectivity in the source space was studied in a group of righthanded adult participants (N = 44:17 women, 27 men, aged M = 29.61 ± 6.45 years). Participants retained the traces of realistic pictures of positive, neutral, and negative emotional valences in their working memory (WM) while performing the same-different task. Within the framework of this task, participants had to compare the initial picture against a target picture that followed after a specified delay. The coherence (COH) between the pairs of cortical sources chosen in advance according to fMRI data was estimated in the theta frequency range for the period preceding the initial stimulus, during the retention of the initial stimulus in WM, and during the rest interval between successive trials. Two distinct sets of functional links were found. The links of the first type that presumably reflected the involvement of sustained attention were between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, the prefrontal areas, and temporal areas of the right hemispheres. When compared to the rest period, the links of this type showed strengthening not only during the retention period but also during the period preceding the initial picture. The links of the second type presumably reflected a progressive neocortex-to-hippocampus functional integration with increasing memory load and strengthened exclusively during the retention period. These links were between the parietal, temporal and prefrontal cortices in the lateral surface of both hemispheres with the additional inclusion of the posterior cingulate cortex and the medial parietal cortex in the left hemisphere. The impact of emotional valence on the strength and topography of the functional links of the second type was found. In the left hemisphere, the increase of strength of cortical interaction was more pronounced for the pictures of positive valence than for the pictures of either neutral or negative valences. When compared to the pictures of neutral valence, the retention of pictorial information of both positive and negative valence showed some extraneous integration of the cortical areas for the theta rhythm. This finding might be related to the additional load exerted by emotionally colored pictures onto the mechanisms of short-time retention of visual information.

This study presents the results of the pre- and postflight clinical and physiological examination (CPE) and scientific experiment “Sensory Adaptation-2” at the Gagarin Research and Test Cosmonaut Training Center, which involved 14 Russian cosmonauts, crewmembers of long-term international spaceflights ISS-28/29 to ISS 36/37, who were in microgravity from 159 to 195 days. The cosmonauts were aged 35–50 years. The studies were conducted twice before the spaceflight (the background), as well as on days R+1(2), R+4(5), and R+8(9) after landing. In the study of visual–manual tracking (VMT), eye movements were recorded by the electrooculography method (EOG), and hand movements were recorded by a joystick (the screen represented the current tilt angle of a joystick handle). The examinations were conducted using stimulation computer programs, were presented to an examined subject on the screen of the Sensomotor hardware–software complex. The examinations took place in the dialog mode and included the EOG calibration; VMT within ±10° on the screen with blank background (the smooth linear and sinusoidal movement of a point target with a frequency of 0.16 Hz in the vertical and horizontal directions). The study estimated the time, amplitude, and velocity characteristics of visual and manual tracking (VT and MT), including the effectiveness (ec) and gain (gc) coefficients as the ratios of the amplitude and velocity of eye/hand movements to the amplitude and velocity of the visual stimulus. The study of the vestibular function (VF) was performed before and after the spaceflight using videooculography. The static torsion otolith–cervical–ocular reflex (OCOR), dynamic vestibular–cervical–ocular reactions (VCOR), vestibular reactivity, and spontaneous eye movements were assessed. The study of VF in the first postflight days has shown a sharp decrease (up to its complete absence) of static vestibular excitability accompanied by the increased dynamic reactivity of the vestibular system. The study of VTM in the first postflight days has shown a significant decrease in the ec and gc of VT as well as correlations between the parameters of VT and MT and between the parameters of VF and VT and has not found a correlation between the parameters of VF and MT. The conditions of the spaceflight have been revealed to affect the accuracy of VT more strongly than the accuracy of MT. A complete return of the characteristics of VMT and VF to the baseline was observed on R+8(9) days after the spaceflight.

Differences in oscillatory responses to emotional facial expressions were studied in 40 subjects (19 men and 21 women aged from 18 to 30 years) varying in severity of depressive symptoms. Compared with perception of angry and neutral faces, perception of happy faces was accompanied by lower Δ synchronization in subjects with a low severity of depressive symptoms (Group 2) and higher Δ synchronization in subjects with a high severity of depressive symptoms (Group 1). Because synchronization of Δ oscillations is usually observed in aversive states, it was assumed that happy faces were perceived as negative stimuli by the Group 1 subjects. Perception of angry faces was accompanied by α desynchronization in Group 2 and α synchronization in Group 1. Based on Klimesch’s theory, the effect was assumed to indicate that the Group 1 subjects were initially set up for perception of negative emotional information. The effect of the emotional stimulus category was significant in Group 2 and nonsignificant in Group 1, testifying that the recognition of emotional information is hindered in depression-prone individuals.

This study investigates associations between G/A polymorphism of the epithelial PAS domain protein 1 (EPAS1) gene (rs1867785) and the maximum rate of oxygen consumption (VO_2max) in male Russian athletes. The study engaged 241 male athletes from different sports; the control group of nonathletes included 92 subjects. Increased frequencies of the AA and AG genotypes of the EPAS1 gene (χ² = 14.16, p = 0.03) were found in the cohort of male athletes. The frequencies of these alleles in the subgroups with moderate (EPAS1*A 38.1% and EPAS1*G 61.9%) and high (EPAS1*A 41.8% and EPAS1*G 58.2%) VO_2max values significantly differed from those in the control group (χ² = 7.53, p = 0.006 and χ² = 6.58, p = 0.01, respectively). The higher aerobic capacities are probably associated with the presence of at least one minor A allele of the EPAS1 gene in the genome.

Alcohol-induced muscle damage (AIMD) is an umbrella term that includes all forms of alcoholic myopathy developing in acute or chronic alcohol intoxication. The most common form of destruction of skeletal muscles in alcoholism is chronic alcoholic myopathy, which develops independently of other alcohol-induced disorders, such as polyneuropathy, the malabsorption syndrome, and liver damage, but may be combined with them. The atrophy of muscle fibers underlies skeletal muscle destruction in chronic AIMD. Type II muscle fibers are affected to a greater degree than type I muscle fibers. To date, the pathogenesis of chronic alcoholic myopathy has been studied insufficiently. The imbalance between protein synthesis and proteolysis, as well as increased apoptosis rate, is discussed.