The aim of the study was to compare the long-term efficacy of high versus low frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), applied bilaterally over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), on cognitive function and cortical excitability of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Forty-five AD patients were randomly classified into three groups. The first two groups received real rTMS over the DLPFC (20 and 1 Hz, respectively) while the third group received sham stimulation. All patients received one session daily for five consecutive days. In each session, rTMS was applied first over the right DLPFC, immediately followed by rTMS over the left DLPFC. Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Instrumental Daily Living Activity (IADL) scale and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) were assessed before, after the last (fifth) session, and then followed up at 1 and 3 months. Neurophysiological evaluations included resting and active motor threshold (rMT and aMT), and the duration of transcallosal inhibition (TI) before and after the end of the treatment sessions. At base line assessment there were no significant differences between groups in any of the rating scales. The high frequency rTMS group improved significantly more than the low frequency and sham groups in all rating scales (MMSE, IADL, and GDS) and at all time points after treatment. Measures of cortical excitability immediately after the last treatment session showed that treatment with 20 Hz rTMS reduced TI duration. These results confirm that five daily sessions of high frequency rTMS over the left and then the right DLPFC improves cognitive function in patients with mild to moderate degree of AD. This improvement was maintained for 3 months. High frequency rTMS may be a useful addition to therapy for the treatment of AD.

A brief course of 2 types of tDCS stimulation is superior to sham stimulation in enhancing the effect of rehabilitation training to improve motor recovery after stroke.

The overall prevalence of peripheral neuropathies was high in comparison to other studies. Entrapment neuropathy, diabetic neuropathy, and spondylotic radiculopathy were the most common. Overall, the prevalence of peripheral neuropathy was higher in the rural than in the urban population.

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Studies using multimodal sensory evoked potentials (SEPs) in children with epilepsy are lacking or few and controversial. We aimed to assess the SEPs, which included: (visual, brainstem and somatosensory evoked potentials) in children with epilepsy treated with carbamazepine (CBZ), valproate (VPA) or lamotrigine (LTG) monotherapy. Forty epileptic children and 25 healthy children were included. Compared to healthy children, children on VPA had prolonged P100 and waves III and IV latencies and reduced P100 amplitude. Children on CBZ had prolonged P100, waves IV and V and N20 latencies and III-V and N9?N20 interpeak latencies. Children on LTG had prolonged N145, waves I, II, III and IV latencies. Significant correlations were identified between the dose of VPA and P100 amplitude (P = 0.001), the dose of CBZ and P100 (P = 0.016); wave V (P = 0.049) latencies and I?III (P = 0.047) and III?V (P = 0.031) interpeak latencies and between the duration of treatment with CBZ and wave IV and V (P = 0.004; P = 0.002) latencies, between the dose of LTG and N9 (P = 0.050), N11 (P = 0.035) and N20 (P = 0.030) latencies and N9?N11 (P = 0.017) and N9?N20 (P = 0.003) interpeak latencies. No significant correlations were identified between SEPs variables and age at onset or duration of illness. This study suggested that antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) might induce changes in central SEPs indicating central nervous system impairment secondary to AEDs. Although none of the children had manifest sensory changes, however, AEDs can induce clinical manifestations with chronic or long-term use.