Giovanni Di Pino - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Giovanni Di Pino

2020 42nd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society (EMBC), 2020

Movement control process can be considered to take place on at least two different levels: a high... more Movement control process can be considered to take place on at least two different levels: a high, more cognitive level and a low, sensorimotor level. On a high level processing a motor command is planned accordingly to the desired goal and the sensory afference, mainly proprioception, is used to determine the necessary adjustments in order to minimize any discrepancy between predicted and executed action. On a lower level processing, the proprioceptive feedback later employed in high level regulations, is generated by Ia sensory fibers positioned in muscle main proprioceptors: muscle spindles. By entraining the activity of these spindle fibers through 80Hz vibration of triceps distal tendon, we show the intriguing possibility of inducing kinematics adjustments due to negative feedback corrections, during a lifting task.

NeuroImage, 2022

INTRODUCTION During the past decades, there has been an increasing interest in tracking brain net... more INTRODUCTION During the past decades, there has been an increasing interest in tracking brain network fluctuations in health and disease by means of resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Rs-fMRI however does not provide the ideal environmental setting, as participants are continuously exposed to noise generated by MRI coils during acquisition of Echo Planar Imaging (EPI). We investigated the effect of EPI noise on resting state activity and connectivity using magnetoencephalography (MEG), by reproducing the acoustic characteristics of rs-fMRI environment during the recordings. As compared to fMRI, MEG has no sensitivity to brain activity generated in deep brain structures, but has the advantage to capture both the dynamic of cortical magnetic oscillations with high temporal resolution and the slow magnetic fluctuations highly correlated with BOLD signal. METHODS Thirty healthy subjects were enrolled in a counterbalanced design study including three conditions: a) silent resting state (Silence), b) resting state upon EPI noise (fMRI), and c) resting state upon white noise (White). White noise was employed to test the specificity of fMRI noise effect. The amplitude envelope correlation (AEC) in alpha measured the connectivity of seven Resting State Networks (RSN) of interest (default mode network, dorsal attention network, language, left and right auditory and left and right sensory-motor). Vigilance dynamic was estimated from power spectral activity. RESULTS fMRI and White acoustic noise consistently reduced connectivity of cortical networks. In general, the effects were widespread, but noise and network specificities were also present. For fMRI noise, decreased connectivity was found in the right auditory and sensory-motor networks. Despite progressive increase of slow theta-delta activity related to drowsiness found in all conditions, drowsiness was significantly higher for fMRI noise. Theta-delta significantly and positively correlated with variations of cortical connectivity. DISCUSSION rs-fMRI connectivity is biased by unavoidable environmental factors during scanning, which warrants more careful control and improved experimental designs. MEG is free from acoustic noise and allows a sensitive estimation of resting state connectivity in cortical areas. Although underutilized, MEG could overcome issues related to noise during fMRI, in particular when investigation of motor and auditory networks is needed.

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2020

The afferent branch of the autonomic nervous system contributes with interoception to the multimo... more The afferent branch of the autonomic nervous system contributes with interoception to the multimodal sensory correlation continuously needed to update our representation of the body. To test whether the modulation of body representation would have an impact on the efferent branch of the autonomic nervous system, nonspecific skin conductance has been measured in three rubber hand illusion (RHI) experiments, controlled with asynchronous brush-stroking and incongruent fake hand position. Nonspecific skin conductance standard deviation (SCSD) computed along the whole 90 sec of stroking was found to be increased by the illusion and to correlate with all the typical measures of embodiment. Computing SCSD in shorter time windows strongly enhanced the difference between illusion and controls. The highest difference was found in the 10–55 sec window, being the 14–34 sec window as the most informative one. The higher correlations with the validated measures of embodiment (all but the proprioc...

Brain Stimulation, 2019

Background: Repetitive convergent inputs to a single post-synaptic neuron can induce long-term po... more Background: Repetitive convergent inputs to a single post-synaptic neuron can induce long-term potentiation (LTP) or depression (LTD) of synaptic activity in a spike timing-dependent manner. Objective: Here we set a protocol of visual paired associative stimulation (vPAS) of the primary visual cortex (V1) in humans to induce persistent changes in the excitatory properties of V1 with a spike timing rule. Methods: We provided convergent inputs to V1 by coupling transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) pulses of the occipital cortex with peripheral visual inputs, at four interstimulus intervals of À50/-25/ þ25/þ50 ms relative to the visual evoked potential (VEP) P1 latency. We analysed VEP amplitude and delayed habituation before and up to 10 min after each vPAS protocol. Results: VEP amplitude was reduced after vPASþ25. Delayed VEP habituation was increased after vPAS-25 while it was reduced after vPASþ25. Conclusions: We provide evidence that associative bidirectional synaptic plasticity is a feature not only of the sensorimotor but also of the human visual system.

ABSTRACT Inclusion of the prosthesis in the body schema lets the device felt by the user as an ex... more ABSTRACT Inclusion of the prosthesis in the body schema lets the device felt by the user as an extension of the self and consequently improves its performance and acceptability. Two paradigmatic models that faced the issue of the illusory embodiment, the rubber hand illusion and the mirror box, revealed that such process goes in parallel with changes in the activity of cortical sensorimotor areas devoted to the limb and that a key factor is represented by the visual inflow that overrides the mismatching kinesthesia. In spite of that, vision alone is not able to trigger prosthesis embodiment in amputees everyday-life. In order to disentangle the contributes of visual and proprioceptive feedback in the induction of sensorimotor plasticity we develop the Illusion Box of Syndactyly that, through an ad hoc algorithm, produces an index-middle finger illusory fingers webbing. The algorithm works in realtime and, trough background difference, it segments the hands, recognizes the fingers and produces the virtual syndactyly. We perform preliminary tests on a healthy subject, suggesting that the setup is robust and efficient to induce the illusion.

Clinical Neurophysiology, 2013

did not show statistical significance between schizophrenic patients and normal controls, the col... more did not show statistical significance between schizophrenic patients and normal controls, the cold pain threshold approached the statistical significance (P = 0.08, unpaired t-test). Conversely the amplitude of all LEP components was significantly lower in patients than in controls (P < 0.05). These preliminary data suggest that schizophrenic patients have an abnormal processing of nociceptive input. These abnormalities might reflect a dopaminergic dysfunction.

Experimental Brain Research, 2021

Sonification is a sensory augmentation strategy whereby a sound is associated with, and modulated... more Sonification is a sensory augmentation strategy whereby a sound is associated with, and modulated by, movement. Evidence suggests that sonification could be a viable strategy to maximize learning and rehabilitation. Recent studies investigated sonification of action observation, reporting beneficial effects, especially in Parkinson’s disease. However, research on simulation training—a training regime based on action observation and motor imagery, in which actions are internally simulated, without physical execution—suggest that action observation alone is suboptimal, compared to the combined use of action observation and motor imagery. In this study, we explored the effects of sonified action observation and motor imagery on corticospinal excitability, as well as to evaluate the extent of practice-dependent plasticity induced by this training. Nineteen participants were recruited to complete a practice session based on combined and congruent action observation and motor imagery (AOM...

Molecules

Invasive intraneural electrodes can control advanced neural-interfaced prostheses in human ampute... more Invasive intraneural electrodes can control advanced neural-interfaced prostheses in human amputees. Nevertheless, in chronic implants, the progressive formation of a fibrotic capsule can gradually isolate the electrode surface from the surrounding tissue leading to loss of functionality. This is due to a nonspecific inflammatory response called foreign-body reaction (FBR). The commonly used poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based low-fouling coatings of implantable devices can be easily encapsulated and are susceptible to oxidative damage in long-term in vivo applications. Recently, sulfobetaine-based zwitterionic hydrogels have emerged as an important class of robust ultra-low fouling biomaterials, holding great potential to mitigate FBR. The aim of this proof-of-principle in vitro work was to assess whether the organic zwitterionic—poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) [poly(SBMA)]—hydrogel could be a suitable coating for Polyimide (PI)-based intraneural electrodes to reduce FBR. We first sy...

Datasets for the study: "Sensorimotor integration within the primary motor cortex by selecti... more Datasets for the study: "Sensorimotor integration within the primary motor cortex by selective nerve fascicle stimulation" (see article for details).<br>

2018 7th IEEE International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (Biorob), 2018

The aim of this work is to present a novel wearable mechatronic device (called PDMeter) designed ... more The aim of this work is to present a novel wearable mechatronic device (called PDMeter) designed to objectively assess the wrist rigidity in Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients. The system is low-weight, long-term wearable and portable in order to i) perform clinical assessments during Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) in unstructured environments, and ii) to provide several rigidity measurements per day. In this scenario, we defined two different working modalities: i) measurement mode, in which the system measures the wrist rigidity, and ii) backdrivable mode, in which it does not measure, but it has to be transparent for the user during ADLs. In this paper we present the overall mechatronic design of the PDMeter, including the kinematic structure, the actuation system, the sensory system (both force and position) and the control electronics. The overall structure is optimized in terms of dimension and weight: the design of the electronic system allow to integrate in a single compact PCB both the control system and the wireless communication with an external device (laptop or smartphone); the mechanical structure, characterized by one active degree of freedom and five passive ones, is entirely made of aluminium alloy (A16082), and the whole system with the electronics embedded has an overall mass of about 0.46 kg. Future efforts will focus on the implementation and testing of the most suitable algorithms to assess the wrist rigidity, and their validation in clinical trials.

Minerva Anestesiologica, 2021

Phantom Limb Pain (PLP) is a dysesthesic painful sensations perceived in the lost limb, resulting... more Phantom Limb Pain (PLP) is a dysesthesic painful sensations perceived in the lost limb, resulting from complex interactions between structural and functional nervous systems changes. We analyse its main pathogenetic models and speculate on candidate therapeutic targets. The neuroma model considers PLP to arise from spontaneous activity of residual limb injured axons. Other peripheral-origin models attribute PLP to damage of somatosensory receptors or vascular changes. According to the cortical remapping model, the loss of bidirectional nervous flow and the need to enhance alternative functions trigger reorganisation and arm and face skin afferents "invade" the hand territory. On the contrary, the persistent representation model suggests that continued inputs preserve the lost limb representation and that, instead to a shrinkage, PLP is associated with larger representation and stronger cortical activity. In the neuromatrix model, the mismatch between body representation, which remains intact despite limb amputation, and real body appearance generates pain. Another hypothesis is that proprioceptive memories associate specific limb positions with pre-amputation pain and may be recalled by those positions. Finally, the stochastic entanglement model offers a direct relationship between cortical reorganization and pain. Amputation disrupts motor and somatosensory circuits, allowing for maladaptive wiring with pain circuits and causing pain without nociception. Relief of PLP depends solely on motor and somatosensory circuitry engagement, making anthropomorphic visual feedback dispensable. Existing and apparently contradicting theories might not be mutually exclusive. All of them involve several intertwined potential mechanisms by which replacing the amputated limb by an artificial one would counteract PLP.

ArXiv, 2021

Augmenting the body with artificial limbs controlled concurrently to the natural limbs has long a... more Augmenting the body with artificial limbs controlled concurrently to the natural limbs has long appeared in science fiction, but recent technological and neuroscientific advances have begun to make this vision possible. By allowing individuals to achieve otherwise impossible actions, this movement augmentation could revolutionize medical and industrial applications and profoundly change the way humans interact with their environment. Here, we construct a movement augmentation taxonomy through what is augmented and how it is achieved. With this framework, we analyze augmentation that extends the number of degrees-of-freedom, discuss critical features of effective augmentation such as physiological control signals, sensory feedback and learning, and propose a vision

2018 IEEE International Symposium on Medical Measurements and Applications (MeMeA), 2018

This work proposes a broad analysis for the de-tection of the most relevant features for the sit-... more This work proposes a broad analysis for the de-tection of the most relevant features for the sit-to-stand task analysis, in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and healthysubjects (H). A group of sixteen PD patients and thirteen H subjects have been analyzed, using one magneto-inertial sensor, while the physician administers the UPDRS clinical scale. The PD group has been examined before and after thepharmacological therapy (respectively, OFF and ON phase), in order to monitor the different states of the PD, which implies changes in motor control. By calculating the features of this task, it has been possible to choose the most reliable indexes, already used in this task in order to identify differences in the score assigned through sensors. In addition to that, it has also been possible to find differences in the features' values which the clinical scale and the physician cannotidentify. Our study highlights how wearable motion sensors can detect statistically significant differences between OFF/ON phase and H subjects that the clinical evaluation can not. We conclude that our method provides a deep analysis of the sit-to-stand task with only one M-IMU, allowing to check PD patient status,providing a method for home care monitoring.

Experimental Brain Research, 2020

Finger-tapping tasks have been widely adopted to investigate auditory-motor synchronization, i.e.... more Finger-tapping tasks have been widely adopted to investigate auditory-motor synchronization, i.e., the coupling of movement with an external auditory rhythm. However, the discrete nature of these movements usually limits their application to the study of beat perception in the context of isochronous rhythms. The purpose of the present pilot study was to test an innovative task that allows investigating bodily responses to complex, non-isochronous rhythms. A conductor's baton was provided to 16 healthy subjects, divided into 2 different groups depending on the years of musical training they had received (musicians or non-musicians). Ad hoc-created melodies, including notes of different durations, were played to the subjects. Each subject was asked to move the baton up and down according to the changes in pitch contour. Software for video analysis and modelling (Tracker ®) was used to track the movement of the baton tip. The main parameters used for the analysis were the velocity peaks in the vertical axis. In the musician group, the number of velocity peaks exactly matched the number of notes, while in the non-musician group, the number of velocity peaks exceeded the number of notes. An exploratory data analysis using Poincaré plots suggested a greater degree of coupling between hand-arm movements and melody in musicians both with isochronous and non-isochronous rhythms. The calculated root mean square error (RMSE) between the note onset times and the velocity peaks, and the analysis of the distribution of velocity peaks in relationship to note onset times confirmed the effect of musical training. Notwithstanding the small number of participants, these results suggest that this novel behavioural task could be used to investigate auditory-motor coupling in the context of music in an ecologically valid setting. Furthermore, the task may be used for rhythm training and rehabilitation in neurological patients with movement disorders.

Cognitive Neuroscience, 2020

ABSTRACT Over a lifetime of experience, the representation of the body is built upon congruent in... more ABSTRACT Over a lifetime of experience, the representation of the body is built upon congruent integration of multiple elements constituting the sensorimotor loop. To investigate its robustness against the rupture of congruency between senses and with motor command, we selectively manipulated in healthy subjects the binds between sight, proprioception, and efferent motor command. Two experiments based on the Moving Hand Illusion were designed employing Tendon Vibration Illusion to modulate proprioception and generate illusory altered feedback of movement. In Experiment A, visuomotor congruency was modulated by introducing adelay between complex multifingered movements performed by arobotic hand and real movement of each participant's hand. In the presence of the motor command, visuomotor congruency enhanced ownership, agency, and skin conductance, while proprioceptive-motor congruency was not effective, confirming the prevalence of vision upon proprioception. In Experiment B, the impact of visuo-proprioceptive congruency was tested in the absence of motor command because the robotic hand moved autonomously. Intersensory congruency compensated for the absence of motor command only for ownership. Skin conductance in Exp Band Proprioceptive Drift in both experiments did not change. Results suggest that ownership and agency are independently processed, and presence of the efferent component modulates sensory feedbacks salience. The brain seems to require the integration of at least two streams of congruent information. Bodily awareness can be generated from sensory information alone, but to feel in charge of the body, senses must be double-checked with the prediction generated from efference copy, which is treated as an additional sensory modality.

Scientific Reports, 2020

Corticospinal volleys evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the primary motor co... more Corticospinal volleys evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the primary motor cortex (M1) consist of high-frequency bursts (≈667 and ≈333 Hz). However, intracortical circuits producing such corticospinal high-frequency bursts are unknown. We here investigated whether neurons activated by single TMS pulses over M1 are resonant to high-frequency oscillations, using a combined transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS)-TMS approach. We applied 667, 333 Hz or sham-tACS and, concurrently, we delivered six single-pulse TMS protocols using monophasic or biphasic pulses, different stimulation intensities, muscular states, types and orientations of coils. We recorded motor evoked potentials (MEPs) before, during and after tACS. 333 Hz tACS facilitated MEPs evoked by biphasic TMS through a figure-of-eight coil at active motor threshold (AMT), and by monophasic TMS with anterior-to-posterior-induced current in the brain. 333 Hz tACS also facilitated MEPs evoked by mon...

Scientific Reports, 2019

Humans increasingly often act through virtual and robotic avatars, which can feed back to their u... more Humans increasingly often act through virtual and robotic avatars, which can feed back to their user only virtual sensory information. Since avatar is user’s embodiment and body image is mostly based on senses, how virtualization of sensory inputs affects avatar self-attribution is a key question for understanding nowadays human behavior. By manipulating visual and tactile inputs in a series of experiments fashioned after the rubber hand illusion, we assessed the relative weight of the virtualization of sight (Real, Robotic, Virtual) and of touch (Real, Virtual) on artificial hand embodiment. Virtualization decreased embodiment, but unexpectedly lowest embodiment was found when only one sense was virtual. Discordant levels of virtualization of sight and touch elicited revulsion, extending the concept of the uncanny valley to avatar embodiment. Besides timing, spatial constraints and realism of feedback, a matched degree of virtualization of seen and felt stimuli is a further constra...

Clinical Neurophysiology, 2010

interpreted as a rapid spread from the left to the right side and a left mesial frontal resection... more interpreted as a rapid spread from the left to the right side and a left mesial frontal resection was performed. This lead to seizure freedom for six months. Thereafter, seizures reappeared and at present, he has 5 10 seizures daily in spite of being treated with four different AEDs. EEG and MR investigations point to a seizure start in the right hemisphere. fMRI cannot localise the left primary motor area. Since the seizure start is still believed to be in the left hemisphere, a navigated transcranial magnetic study (NBS) was performed in order to decide if another left sided resection is possible. Results: The hand and forearm muscles of the left side have normal somatotopic localisation in the right primary motor area (M1). The control of the right hand muscles is shifted to the corresponding area in the right hemisphere. The right forearm muscles are governed bilaterally from the respective M1s. The control of the right leg muscles is unaltered in the left M1. Conclusions: Using NBS, the localisation of the cortical control of different muscles can be investigated with high precision. In this case, a partial contralateral transfer of motor function of a forearm muscle could be demonstrated.

Nature Communications, 2022

Augmenting the body with artificial limbs controlled concurrently to one’s natural limbs has long... more Augmenting the body with artificial limbs controlled concurrently to one’s natural limbs has long appeared in science fiction, but recent technological and neuroscientific advances have begun to make this possible. By allowing individuals to achieve otherwise impossible actions, movement augmentation could revolutionize medical and industrial applications and profoundly change the way humans interact with the environment. Here, we construct a movement augmentation taxonomy through what is augmented and how it is achieved. With this framework, we analyze augmentation that extends the number of degrees-of-freedom, discuss critical features of effective augmentation such as physiological control signals, sensory feedback and learning as well as application scenarios, and propose a vision for the field.