The brain activation pattern of the medial temporal lobe during chewing gum: a functional MRI study

The human brain is known to be influenced by environmental stimuli（Feeney et al.,1982;Kaplan,1988）.Therefore,research on the brain activation pattern by external stimuli has been an important topic in neuroscience（Kaplan,1988）.Chewing gum has been known to have a positive effect on cognition,including alertness,attention,cognitive processing speed,

Recovery of an injured corticospinal tract by subcortical peri-lesional reorganization in a patient with intracerebral hemorrhage

The corticospinal tract （CST） is a neural tract responsible for motor function in the human brain. It is mainly related to hand movements （Iang, 2014）. Therefore, recovery of an injured CST contributes to good recovery in stroke patients and a thorough knowledge of the recovery mechanism regarding an injured CST is required for successful brain rehabilitation.

Difference in cortical activation during use of volar and dorsal hand splints:a functional magnetic resonance imaging study

There have been no studies reported on the difference in cortical activation during use of volar and dorsal hand splints.We attempted to investigate the difference in cortical activation in the somatosensory cortical area during use of volar and dorsal hand splints by functional magnetic resonance imaging（f MRI）.We recruited eight healthy volunteers.f MRI was performed while subjects who were fitted with volar or dorsal hand splints performed grasp-release movements.Regions of interest were placed on the primary motor cortex（M1）,primary somatosensory cortex（S1）,posterior parietal cortex（PPC）,and secondary somatosensory cortex（S2）.Results of group analysis of f MRI data showed that the total numbers of activated voxels in all ROIs were significantly higher during use of volar hand splint（3,376） compared with that（1,416） during use of dorsal hand splint.In each ROI,use of volar hand splint induced greater activation in all ROIs（M1：1,748,S1 ：1,455,PPC：23,and S2：150） compared with use of dorsal hand splint（M1：783,S1：625,PPC：0,and S2：8）.The peak activated value was also higher during use of volar hand splint（t-value：17.29） compared with that during use of dorsal hand splint（t-value：13.11）.Taken together,use of volar hand splint induced greater cortical activation relevant to somatosensory function than use of dorsal hand splint.This result would be important for the physiatrist and therapist to apply appropriate somatosensory input in patients with brain injury.

Recovery of corticospinal tract injured by traumatic axonal injury at the subcortical white matter:a case report

The corticospinal tract （CST） is a major neural tract for mo- tor function in the human brain. In addition, CST is mainly concerned with execution of movement of the hand （Jang, 2014）. However, few studies are reported on the mecha- nism underlying CST recovery after traumatic brain injury （Seo and Jang, 2015）. In this study, we report on a case that showed recovery of an injured CST by traumatic axonal injury （TAI） at subcortical white matter, as detected on fol- low-up diffusion tensor tractography （DTT）.

Neglected corticospinal tract injury for 10 months in a stroke patient

The corticospinal tract（CST）is an essential motor pathway in the human brain：particularly,it is essential for fine hand movements（Jang,2014）.Stroke patients can show more severe weakness when a partial injury of the CST is combined with apraxia.