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The introduction of BCI technology in assisting MI practice demonstrates the rehabilitative potential of MI, contributing to significantly better motor functional outcomes in subacute stroke patients with severe motor impairments.

To identify novel genes associated with ALS, we undertook two lines of investigation. We carried out a genome-wide association study comparing 20,806 ALS cases and 59,804 controls. Independently, we performed a rare variant burden analysis comparing 1,138 index familial ALS cases and 19,494 controls. Through both approaches, we identified kinesin family member 5A (KIF5A) as a novel gene associated with ALS. Interestingly, mutations predominantly in the N-terminal motor domain of KIF5A are causative for two neurodegenerative diseases: hereditary spastic paraplegia (SPG10) and Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 2 (CMT2). In contrast, ALS-associated mutations are primarily located at the C-terminal cargo-binding tail domain and patients harboring loss-of-function mutations displayed an extended survival relative to typical ALS cases. Taken together, these results broaden the phenotype spectrum resulting from mutations in KIF5A and strengthen the role of cytoskeletal defects in the pathogenesis of ALS.

The technique of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) allows cortical motor areas to be activated by trains of magnetic stimuli at different frequencies and intensities. In this paper, we studied long-term neurophysiological effects of rTMS delivered to the motor cortex at 5 Hz with an intensity of 120% of motor threshold. Each stimulus of the train produced muscle-evoked potentials (MEPs) in hand and forearm muscles, which gradually increased in size from the first to the last shock. After the end of the train, the response to a single-test stimulus remained enhanced for 600-900 ms. In contrast, the train had no effect on the size of the MEPs evoked by transcranial electrical stimulation, while it suppressed H-reflexes in forearm muscles for 900 ms. We conclude that rTMS of these parameters increases the excitability of the motor cortex and that this effect outlasts the train for almost 1 s. At the spinal level, rTMS may increase presynaptic inhibition of Ia afferent fibers responsible for the H-reflex.

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