Rejected

Despite increasing growth of interest in transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), its underlying mechanisms are still unclear. With many claims based on the anodal-excitation and cathodal-inhibition dichotomy originally observed in the motor cortex, surprisingly few studies have examined these fundamental polarity-specific effects beyond the motor cortex. The after-effects of tDCS on the visual cortex are of particular interest because of their potential application to vision restoration and migraine treatment. Yet the limited studies revealed conflicting results. Here we investigated whether polarity-specific tDCS effects exist in the visual cortex. In a counterbalanced within-subject crossover design, 20 healthy subjects each completed three sessions of anodal, cathodal and sham tDCS (2 mA for 20 min) applied over the visual cortex. Pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials (VEP) and their habituation slopes were measured at five time-points immediately before, after and every 15 minutes following the end of tDCS. Compared to sham, we found no significant tDCS induced after-effects on VEP amplitudes or habituation slopes, supported by strong evidence from Bayesian statistics. Neither were there any after-effects of tDCS on EEG power of the frequency of stimulus presentation, theta or alpha band. In conclusion, our results challenge previous findings of robust polarity-dependent after-effects of tDCS over the visual cortex.

The purpose of this study is twofold, first to present a new method based on head laser tracking designed to measure head or hand movements and second to further investigate if patients suffering from chronic whiplash or tension-type headache have impaired motor control of neck muscles.

Gamma-decanolactone (GD) has been shown to reduce epileptic behavior in different models, inflammatory decreasing, oxidative stress, and genotoxic parameters. This study assessed the GD effect on the pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) model after acute and subchronic treatment. We evaluated the expression of the inflammatory marker cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), GluN2B, a subunit of the NMDA glutamate receptor, adenosine A1 receptor, and GD genotoxicity and mutagenicity. Male and female mice were treated with GD (300 mg/kg) for 12 days. On the tenth day, they were tested in the Hot Plate test. On the thirteenth day, all animals received PTZ (90 mg/kg), and epileptic behavior PTZ-induced was observed for 30 min. Pregabalin (PGB) (30 mg/kg) was used as a positive control. Samples of the hippocampus and blood were collected for Western Blotting analyses and Comet Assay and bone marrow to the Micronucleus test. Only the acute treatment of GD reduced the seizure occurrence and increased the latency to the first stage 3 seizures. Males treated with GD for 12 days demonstrated a significant increase in the expression of the GluN2B receptor and a decrease in the COX-2 expression. Acute and subchronic treatment with GD and PGB reduced the DNA damage produced by PTZ in males and females. There is no increase in the micronucleus frequency in bone marrow after subchronic treatment. This study suggests that GD, after 12 days, could not reduce PTZ-induced seizures, but it has been shown to protect against DNA damage, reduce COX-2 and increase GluN2B expression.

Elevated noise level is an emerging global problem. Therefore, the present work is conducted that can improve, increase, and integrate the already known issue in literature with new information coming from an emerging country such as Pakistan. The objectives of this study were (i) to assess the urban noise levels and traffic density of Chiniot and Jhang and (ii) to determine nonauditory health effects of noise levels on the residents of both cities. Noise levels were examined from 181 locations (103 from Jhang and 78 from Chiniot) and categorized into hospitals, educational, religious and recreational, residential, industrial areas, and traffic intersections. A-weighted noise level measurements were taken using an integrated sound level meter which recorded short-term road traffic noise continuously for 15 min at each location (LA). The urban noise data showed 82% of the sites in Jhang (LA = 103 dB) and 95% in Chiniot (LA = 120 dB) exceeded the noise limits set by the National Environment Quality Standard of Pakistan (NEQS-Pak) and World Health Organization (WHO). Moreover, higher intensity of noise levels (LA ≥ 100 dB) was recorded in Chiniot (17 sites) than in Jhang (1 site). Regression analysis showed a relatively strong relationship of traffic density with noise at Chiniot (R = 0.48) compared to Jhang (R = 0.31). However, spatial variability of noise with traffic density was observed in both cities. Survey study revealed that all the respondents in Jhang and Chiniot suffered from many noise-related health problems such as annoyance (53 and 51%), depression (45 and 47%), dizziness (61 and 65%), headache (67 and 64%), hypertension (71 and 56%), hearing loss (53 and 56%), physiological stress (65 and 65%), sleeplessness (81 and 84%), and tinnitus (70 and 62%) due to noise, respectively. We conclude that noise levels are higher in Chiniot primarily due to high road traffic and secondarily due to high population density. It is recommended that vehicle maintenance and family and urban planning could be effective measures to reduce urban noise levels.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is prevalent in patients with chronic non-cancer pain. OSA may lead to low sleep quality and an increase in pain sensitivity. Patients reporting greater sleep impairment tend to experience higher pain intensity and vice versa. Positive airway pressure (PAP) is the current gold standard treatment for OSA. This review aims to evaluate the efficacy of PAP therapy in patients with comorbid chronic pain and OSA in influencing pain outcomes like pain intensity, tolerance, threshold, and sensitivity.

Prospective cohort study (open-label, single-arm, and non-blinded).

Headache is a frequent symptom of the novel coronavirus 19 disease (COVID-19). To date, there are limited information on how COVID-19 affects migraine and its treatment.

Nowadays, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) is regarded as an independent inflammatory demyelinating disease. Here, we report a rare case of unilateral cerebral cortical encephalitis (CCE) with positive anti-MOG antibodies.