Mark Hallett

Bio: Mark Hallett is an academic researcher from National Institutes of Health. The author has contributed to research in topics: Transcranial magnetic stimulation & Motor cortex. The author has an hindex of 186, co-authored 1170 publications receiving 123741 citations. Previous affiliations of Mark Hallett include Government of the United States of America & Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.

Lecithin does not affect EEG spectral analysis or P300in Alzheimer disease

Abstract: We studied 10 patients with Alzheimer disease by measuring EEG compressed spectral analysis and the P 300 latency and topography before and after 2 weeks of lecithin therapy. There was a significant positive correlation between the degree of dementia measured by the Blessed Dementia Scale and the amount of EEG delta activity. The P 300 latency was related to the ability to detect the rare tones in the P 300 paradigm. Lecithin therapy increased mean plasma choline levels but did not affect EEG power or the P 300 latency or topography.

Motor re-training does not need to be task specific to improve writer's cramp.

Abstract: Previous studies showed a beneficial effect of motor re-training in task-specific hand dystonia. Here we examined whether re-training needs to specifically focus on the task affected by dystonia. 21 patients with writer's cramp were randomly assigned to two types of re-training: One group of patients trained drawing and writing movements using a pen attached to the bottom of a finger splint. The second group used therapeutic putty to train finger movements without exercises of drawing and writing movements. Training lasted for 8 weeks. Before re-training, affected hand and forearm were immobilized for 4 weeks to facilitate the responsiveness to re-training. Dystonia was assessed during handwriting using the Writer's Cramp Rating Scale. Although no clinical improvement was observed immediately after immobilization, 8 weeks of re-training improved task-specific dystonia relative to baseline (P = 0.005). Both training modalities were equally effective. More severely affected patients benefited most. There was no correlation between disease duration and the individual treatment response. Re-training also improved hand function as indexed by the Arm Dystonia Disability Scale (P = 0.008). Kinematic handwriting analysis showed that re-training lowered vertical force level and enhanced the fluency of handwriting. We conclude that re-training does not need to specifically focus on the task affected by dystonia to be clinically effective.

Studies of sensory and motor cortex physiology: with observations on akinesia in Parkinson's disease.

Abstract: Magnetic stimulation of the brain can be used to investigate sensory and motor physiology and pathophysiology in intact humans. Although uncommon, it is possible for magnetic stimulation over sensorimotor cortex to produce paresthesis. With magnetic stimulation, it is also possible to block the conscious sensation of an electrical shock delivered to the index finger. The magnetic stimulus must be delivered in the interval from 300 msec before to 200 msec after the cutaneous shock and must be delivered over the contralateral hand region of the sensorimotor cortex. In a reaction time situation, the expected voluntary response may be delayed by a magnetic stimulus delivered over the sensorimotor cortex just before the movement. With the use of a relatively weak magnetic stimulus that does not produce a motor evoked potential (MEP) when the body part is at rest, but that will produce a response when the body part is activated, the reaction time can be divided into two periods. In the first period, there is no MEP and the motor cortex remains 'inexcitable'. In the second period, there is a gradual increase in MEP amplitude even though the voluntary electromyographic activity has not yet appeared. This 'excitable' period indicates the activation of motor cortex before the motor command is delivered. Application of this technique to the analysis of prolonged reaction time (akinesia) in patients with Parkinson's disease shows that the excitable period is prolonged. This describes the mechanism underlying the difficulty in the generation of a motor command in these patients.

The Brain's Default Network Anatomy, Function, and Relevance to Disease

Abstract: Thirty years of brain imaging research has converged to define the brain’s default network—a novel and only recently appreciated brain system that participates in internal modes of cognition Here we synthesize past observations to provide strong evidence that the default network is a specific, anatomically defined brain system preferentially active when individuals are not focused on the external environment Analysis of connectional anatomy in the monkey supports the presence of an interconnected brain system Providing insight into function, the default network is active when individuals are engaged in internally focused tasks including autobiographical memory retrieval, envisioning the future, and conceiving the perspectives of others Probing the functional anatomy of the network in detail reveals that it is best understood as multiple interacting subsystems The medial temporal lobe subsystem provides information from prior experiences in the form of memories and associations that are the building blocks of mental simulation The medial prefrontal subsystem facilitates the flexible use of this information during the construction of self-relevant mental simulations These two subsystems converge on important nodes of integration including the posterior cingulate cortex The implications of these functional and anatomical observations are discussed in relation to possible adaptive roles of the default network for using past experiences to plan for the future, navigate social interactions, and maximize the utility of moments when we are not otherwise engaged by the external world We conclude by discussing the relevance of the default network for understanding mental disorders including autism, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease

Parallel Organization of Functionally Segregated Circuits Linking Basal Ganglia and Cortex

Abstract: Information about the basal ganglia has accumulated at a prodigious pace over the past decade, necessitating major revisions in our concepts of the structural and functional organization of these nuclei. From earlier data it had appeared that the basal ganglia served primarily to integrate diverse inputs from the entire cerebral cortex and to "funnel" these influences, via the ventrolateral thalamus, to the motor cortex (Allen & Tsukahara 1974, Evarts & Thach 1969, Kemp & Powell 1971). In particular, the basal

FieldTrip: open source software for advanced analysis of MEG, EEG, and invasive electrophysiological data

Abstract: This paper describes FieldTrip, an open source software package that we developed for the analysis of MEG, EEG, and other electrophysiological data. The software is implemented as a MATLAB toolbox and includes a complete set of consistent and user-friendly high-level functions that allow experimental neuroscientists to analyze experimental data. It includes algorithms for simple and advanced analysis, such as time-frequency analysis using multitapers, source reconstruction using dipoles, distributed sources and beamformers, connectivity analysis, and nonparametric statistical permutation tests at the channel and source level. The implementation as toolbox allows the user to perform elaborate and structured analyses of large data sets using the MATLAB command line and batch scripting. Furthermore, users and developers can easily extend the functionality and implement new algorithms. The modular design facilitates the reuse in other software packages.

Principles of Neural Science

Abstract: I have developed "tennis elbow" from lugging this book around the past four weeks, but it is worth the pain, the effort, and the aspirin. It is also worth the (relatively speaking) bargain price. Including appendixes, this book contains 894 pages of text. The entire panorama of the neural sciences is surveyed and examined, and it is comprehensive in its scope, from genomes to social behaviors. The editors explicitly state that the book is designed as "an introductory text for students of biology, behavior, and medicine," but it is hard to imagine any audience, interested in any fragment of neuroscience at any level of sophistication, that would not enjoy this book. The editors have done a masterful job of weaving together the biologic, the behavioral, and the clinical sciences into a single tapestry in which everyone from the molecular biologist to the practicing psychiatrist can find and appreciate his or