Instrumental Evaluation of the Effects of Vertebral Consolidation Surgery on Trunk Muscle Activations and Co-Activations in Patients with Multiple Myeloma: Preliminary Results.

Multiple myeloma (MM) patients complain of pain and stiffness limiting motility. To determine if patients can benefit from vertebroplasty, we assessed muscle activation and co-activation before and after surgery. Five patients with MM and five healthy controls performed sitting-to-standing and lifting tasks. Patients performed the task before and one month after surgery. Surface electromyography (sEMG) was recorded bilaterally over the erector spinae longissimus and rectus abdominis superior muscles to evaluate the trunk muscle activation and co-activation and their mean, maximum, and full width at half maximum were evaluated. Statistical analyses were performed to compare MM patients before and after the surgery, MM and healthy controls and to investigate any correlations between the muscle's parameters and the severity of pain in patients. The results reveal increased activations and co-activations after vertebroplasty as well as in comparison with healthy controls suggesting how MM patients try to control the trunk before and after vertebroplasty surgery. The findings confirm the beneficial effects of vertebral consolidation on the pain experienced by the patient, despite an overall increase in trunk muscle activation and co-activation. Therefore, it is important to provide patients with rehabilitation treatment early after surgery to facilitate the CNS to correctly stabilize the spine without overloading it with excessive co-activations.

Increased Resting State Triple Network Functional Connectivity in Undergraduate Problematic Cannabis Users: A Preliminary EEG Coherence Study.

An increasing body of experimental data have suggested that aberrant functional interactions between large-scale networks may be the most plausible explanation of psychopathology across multiple mental disorders, including substance-related and addictive disorders. In the current research, we have investigated the association between problematic cannabis use (PCU) and triple-network electroencephalographic (EEG) functional connectivity. Twelve participants with PCU and 24 non-PCU participants were included in the study. EEG recordings were performed during resting state (RS). The exact Low-Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography software (eLORETA) was used for all EEG analyses. Compared to non-PCU, PCU participants showed an increased delta connectivity between the salience network (SN) and central executive network (CEN), specifically, between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and right posterior parietal cortex. The strength of delta connectivity between the SN and CEN was positively and significantly correlated with higher problematic patterns of cannabis use after controlling for age, sex, educational level, tobacco use, problematic alcohol use, and general psychopathology (rp = 0.40, p = 0.030). Taken together, our results show that individuals with PCU could be characterized by a specific dysfunctional interaction between the SN and CEN during RS, which might reflect the neurophysiological underpinnings of attentional and emotional processes of cannabis-related thoughts, memories, and craving.