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Christopher David Lascola

Associate Professor of Radiology
Radiology, Neuroradiology
Box 3808 Med Ctr, Durham, NC 27710
Dept of Radiology, Durham, NC 27710

Selected Publications


Cocaine use is associated with cerebral white matter hyperintensities in HIV disease.

Journal Article Ann Clin Transl Neurol · September 2023 BACKGROUND: White matter hyperintensities (WMH), a marker of cerebral small vessel disease and predictor of cognitive decline, are observed at higher rates in persons with HIV (PWH). The use of cocaine, a potent central nervous system stimulant, is disprop ... Full text Link to item Cite

Gold Nanostars Obviate Limitations to Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy (LITT) for the Treatment of Intracranial Tumors.

Journal Article Clin Cancer Res · August 15, 2023 PURPOSE: Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) is an effective minimally invasive treatment option for intracranial tumors. Our group produced plasmonics-active gold nanostars (GNS) designed to preferentially accumulate within intracranial tumors and a ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Durable responses in patients with HER2+ breast cancer and leptomeningeal metastases treated with trastuzumab deruxtecan.

Journal Article NPJ Breast Cancer · March 30, 2023 Leptomeningeal metastases (LM) are a devastating complication of HER2 + metastatic breast cancer (MBC), with no effective treatments. In a case series of 8 patients with heavily pretreated HER2 + MBC and progressing LM, all 8 patients (100%) derived clinic ... Full text Link to item Cite

Preclinical and Clinical Efficacy of Trastuzumab Deruxtecan in Breast Cancer Brain Metastases.

Journal Article Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · January 2023 PurposeBrain metastases can occur in up to 50% of patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer. Because patients with active brain metastases were excluded from previous pivotal clinical trials, the central nervous system (CNS) activity of ... Full text Cite

CN-105 in Participants with Acute Supratentorial Intracerebral Hemorrhage (CATCH) Trial.

Journal Article Neurocrit Care · February 2022 BACKGROUND: Endogenous apolipoprotein (apo) E mediates neuroinflammatory responses and recovery after brain injury. Exogenously administered apoE-mimetic peptides effectively penetrate the central nervous system compartment and downregulate acute inflammat ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Neuroprotective Pentapeptide, CN-105, Improves Outcomes in Translational Models of Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Journal Article Neurocrit Care · October 2021 BACKGROUND: Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a devastating form of cerebrovascular disease for which there are no approved pharmacological interventions that improve outcomes. Apolipoprotein E (apoE) has emerged as a promising therapeutic target given its ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Acute Effects of Time-Varying Caloric Vestibular Stimulation as Assessed With fMRI.

Journal Article Front Syst Neurosci · 2021 We describe preliminary results from the application of time-varying caloric vestibular stimulation (tvCVS) to volunteers during a continuous blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional MRI (fMRI) acquisition, recording baseline, during-tvCVS and post-t ... Full text Link to item Cite

ABC Transporter Inhibition Plus Dexamethasone Enhances the Efficacy of Convection Enhanced Delivery in H3.3K27M Mutant Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma.

Journal Article Neurosurgery · May 1, 2020 BACKGROUND: An impermeable blood-brain barrier and drug efflux via ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters such as p-glycoprotein may contribute to underwhelming efficacy of peripherally delivered agents to treat diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). OB ... Full text Link to item Cite

Author Correction: Neuroprotective pentapeptide CN-105 improves functional and histological outcomes in a murine model of intracerebral hemorrhage.

Journal Article Sci Rep · April 20, 2020 An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Neuroprotective pentapeptide, CN-105, improves outcomes in translational models of intracerebral hemorrhage

Journal Article · 2020 Background Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a devastating form of cerebrovascular disease for which there are no approved pharmacological interventions that improve outcomes. Apolipoprotein E (apoE) has emerged as a promising therapeutic target g ... Full text Cite

Plasmonic gold nanostar-mediated photothermal immunotherapy for brain tumor ablation and immunologic memory.

Journal Article Immunotherapy · October 2019 Brain tumors present unique therapeutic challenges and they include glioblastoma (GBM) and metastases from cancers of other organs. Current treatment options are limited and include surgical resection, radiation therapy, laser interstitial thermal therapy ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sex Differences in Gene and Protein Expression After Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Mice.

Journal Article Transl Stroke Res · April 2019 Sex dimorphism has been demonstrated after experimental intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Decreased mortality and improved neurobehavioral outcomes occur in female compared to male mice after intrastriatal autologous blood or collagenase injection. Sex-speci ... Full text Link to item Cite

Annexin A1 Bioactive Peptide Promotes Resolution of Neuroinflammation in a Rat Model of Exsanguinating Cardiac Arrest Treated by Emergency Preservation and Resuscitation.

Journal Article Front Neurosci · 2019 Neuroinflammation initiated by damage-associated molecular patterns, including high mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1), has been implicated in adverse neurological outcomes following lethal hemorrhagic shock and polytrauma. Emergency preservation and res ... Full text Link to item Cite

The role of angiogenesis in Group 3 medulloblastoma pathogenesis and survival.

Journal Article Neuro Oncol · September 1, 2017 BACKGROUND: Of the 4 medulloblastoma subgroups, Group 3 is the most aggressive but the importance of angiogenesis is unknown. This study sought to determine the role of angiogenesis and identify clinically relevant biomarkers of tumor vascularity and survi ... Full text Link to item Cite

BAG3 (Bcl-2-Associated Athanogene-3) Coding Variant in Mice Determines Susceptibility to Ischemic Limb Muscle Myopathy by Directing Autophagy.

Journal Article Circulation · July 18, 2017 BACKGROUND: Critical limb ischemia is a manifestation of peripheral artery disease that carries significant mortality and morbidity risk in humans, although its genetic determinants remain largely unknown. We previously discovered 2 overlapping quantitativ ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cocaine use is associated with cerebral white matter hyperintensities in HIV disease.

Journal Article Ann Clin Transl Neurol · September 2023 BACKGROUND: White matter hyperintensities (WMH), a marker of cerebral small vessel disease and predictor of cognitive decline, are observed at higher rates in persons with HIV (PWH). The use of cocaine, a potent central nervous system stimulant, is disprop ... Full text Link to item Cite

Gold Nanostars Obviate Limitations to Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy (LITT) for the Treatment of Intracranial Tumors.

Journal Article Clin Cancer Res · August 15, 2023 PURPOSE: Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) is an effective minimally invasive treatment option for intracranial tumors. Our group produced plasmonics-active gold nanostars (GNS) designed to preferentially accumulate within intracranial tumors and a ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Durable responses in patients with HER2+ breast cancer and leptomeningeal metastases treated with trastuzumab deruxtecan.

Journal Article NPJ Breast Cancer · March 30, 2023 Leptomeningeal metastases (LM) are a devastating complication of HER2 + metastatic breast cancer (MBC), with no effective treatments. In a case series of 8 patients with heavily pretreated HER2 + MBC and progressing LM, all 8 patients (100%) derived clinic ... Full text Link to item Cite

Preclinical and Clinical Efficacy of Trastuzumab Deruxtecan in Breast Cancer Brain Metastases.

Journal Article Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · January 2023 PurposeBrain metastases can occur in up to 50% of patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer. Because patients with active brain metastases were excluded from previous pivotal clinical trials, the central nervous system (CNS) activity of ... Full text Cite

CN-105 in Participants with Acute Supratentorial Intracerebral Hemorrhage (CATCH) Trial.

Journal Article Neurocrit Care · February 2022 BACKGROUND: Endogenous apolipoprotein (apo) E mediates neuroinflammatory responses and recovery after brain injury. Exogenously administered apoE-mimetic peptides effectively penetrate the central nervous system compartment and downregulate acute inflammat ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Neuroprotective Pentapeptide, CN-105, Improves Outcomes in Translational Models of Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Journal Article Neurocrit Care · October 2021 BACKGROUND: Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a devastating form of cerebrovascular disease for which there are no approved pharmacological interventions that improve outcomes. Apolipoprotein E (apoE) has emerged as a promising therapeutic target given its ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Acute Effects of Time-Varying Caloric Vestibular Stimulation as Assessed With fMRI.

Journal Article Front Syst Neurosci · 2021 We describe preliminary results from the application of time-varying caloric vestibular stimulation (tvCVS) to volunteers during a continuous blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional MRI (fMRI) acquisition, recording baseline, during-tvCVS and post-t ... Full text Link to item Cite

ABC Transporter Inhibition Plus Dexamethasone Enhances the Efficacy of Convection Enhanced Delivery in H3.3K27M Mutant Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma.

Journal Article Neurosurgery · May 1, 2020 BACKGROUND: An impermeable blood-brain barrier and drug efflux via ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters such as p-glycoprotein may contribute to underwhelming efficacy of peripherally delivered agents to treat diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). OB ... Full text Link to item Cite

Author Correction: Neuroprotective pentapeptide CN-105 improves functional and histological outcomes in a murine model of intracerebral hemorrhage.

Journal Article Sci Rep · April 20, 2020 An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Neuroprotective pentapeptide, CN-105, improves outcomes in translational models of intracerebral hemorrhage

Journal Article · 2020 Background Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a devastating form of cerebrovascular disease for which there are no approved pharmacological interventions that improve outcomes. Apolipoprotein E (apoE) has emerged as a promising therapeutic target g ... Full text Cite

Plasmonic gold nanostar-mediated photothermal immunotherapy for brain tumor ablation and immunologic memory.

Journal Article Immunotherapy · October 2019 Brain tumors present unique therapeutic challenges and they include glioblastoma (GBM) and metastases from cancers of other organs. Current treatment options are limited and include surgical resection, radiation therapy, laser interstitial thermal therapy ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sex Differences in Gene and Protein Expression After Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Mice.

Journal Article Transl Stroke Res · April 2019 Sex dimorphism has been demonstrated after experimental intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Decreased mortality and improved neurobehavioral outcomes occur in female compared to male mice after intrastriatal autologous blood or collagenase injection. Sex-speci ... Full text Link to item Cite

Annexin A1 Bioactive Peptide Promotes Resolution of Neuroinflammation in a Rat Model of Exsanguinating Cardiac Arrest Treated by Emergency Preservation and Resuscitation.

Journal Article Front Neurosci · 2019 Neuroinflammation initiated by damage-associated molecular patterns, including high mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1), has been implicated in adverse neurological outcomes following lethal hemorrhagic shock and polytrauma. Emergency preservation and res ... Full text Link to item Cite

The role of angiogenesis in Group 3 medulloblastoma pathogenesis and survival.

Journal Article Neuro Oncol · September 1, 2017 BACKGROUND: Of the 4 medulloblastoma subgroups, Group 3 is the most aggressive but the importance of angiogenesis is unknown. This study sought to determine the role of angiogenesis and identify clinically relevant biomarkers of tumor vascularity and survi ... Full text Link to item Cite

BAG3 (Bcl-2-Associated Athanogene-3) Coding Variant in Mice Determines Susceptibility to Ischemic Limb Muscle Myopathy by Directing Autophagy.

Journal Article Circulation · July 18, 2017 BACKGROUND: Critical limb ischemia is a manifestation of peripheral artery disease that carries significant mortality and morbidity risk in humans, although its genetic determinants remain largely unknown. We previously discovered 2 overlapping quantitativ ... Full text Link to item Cite

Neuroprotective pentapeptide CN-105 improves functional and histological outcomes in a murine model of intracerebral hemorrhage.

Journal Article Sci Rep · October 7, 2016 Presently, no pharmacological treatments have been demonstrated to improve long-term functional outcomes following intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Clinical evidence associates apolipoprotein E (apoE) genotype with ICH incidence and outcome. While apoE modi ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Sex-Specific Effects of Progesterone on Early Outcome of Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Journal Article Neuroendocrinology · 2016 BACKGROUND: Preclinical evidence suggests that progesterone improves recovery after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH); however, gonadal hormones have sex-specific effects. Therefore, an experimental model of ICH was used to assess recovery after progesterone ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Anticancer therapeutic potential of Mn porphyrin/ascorbate system.

Journal Article Free Radic Biol Med · December 2015 Ascorbate (Asc) as a single agent suppressed growth of several tumor cell lines in a mouse model. It has been tested in a Phase I Clinical Trial on pancreatic cancer patients where it exhibited no toxicity to normal tissue yet was of only marginal efficacy ... Full text Link to item Cite

Modulation of murine breast tumor vascularity, hypoxia and chemotherapeutic response by exercise.

Journal Article J Natl Cancer Inst · May 2015 Exercise has been shown to improve postischemia perfusion of normal tissues; we investigated whether these effects extend to solid tumors. Estrogen receptor-negative (ER-, 4T1) and ER+ (E0771) tumor cells were implanted orthotopically into syngeneic mice ( ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

The Role of Ascorbate in Therapeutic Actions of Cationic Mn Porphyrin-Based SOD Mimics

Journal Article Free Radical Biology and Medicine · November 2014 Full text Cite

Effects of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest on the blood brain barrier in a cardiopulmonary bypass model--a pilot study.

Journal Article Heart Lung Circ · October 2014 BACKGROUND: Neurologic injury is common after cardiac surgery and disruption of the blood brain barrier (BBB) has been proposed as a contributing factor. We sought to study BBB characteristics in a rodent model of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and deep hypo ... Full text Link to item Cite

Intrastriatal injection of autologous blood or clostridial collagenase as murine models of intracerebral hemorrhage.

Journal Article J Vis Exp · July 3, 2014 Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a common form of cerebrovascular disease and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Lack of effective treatment and failure of large clinical trials aimed at hemostasis and clot removal demonstrate the nee ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

pH-sensitive NMDA inhibitors improve outcome in a murine model of SAH.

Journal Article Neurocrit Care · February 2014 BACKGROUND: Despite intensive research, neurological morbidity from delayed cerebral ischemia remains common after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). In the current study, we evaluate the neuroprotective effects of a pH-dependent GluN2B subunit-sele ... Full text Link to item Cite

ApolipoproteinE mimetic peptides improve outcome after focal ischemia.

Journal Article Exp Neurol · March 2013 Growing clinical evidence implicates isoform-specific effects of apolipoprotein E (apoE) in reducing neuroinflammation and mediating adaptive responses following ischemic and traumatic brain injury. However, the intact apoE holoprotein does not cross the b ... Full text Link to item Cite

CT-guided cervical transforaminal steroid injections: where should the needle tip be located?

Journal Article AJNR Am J Neuroradiol · March 2013 BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The aim of CT-guided CTSI is to inject medication into the foraminal region where the nerve root is inflamed. The optimal location for needle placement and therapeutic delivery, however, remain uncertain. The purpose of this study w ... Full text Link to item Cite

Trends in spinal pain management injections in academic radiology departments.

Journal Article AJNR Am J Neuroradiol · January 2013 BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There is a paucity of information present in the current literature with regard to the role of SPMI performance in academic radiology centers. Our aim was to evaluate the current practice patterns for the performance of SPMIs in aca ... Full text Link to item Cite

Xenon neuroprotection in experimental stroke: interactions with hypothermia and intracerebral hemorrhage.

Journal Article Anesthesiology · December 2012 BACKGROUND: Xenon has been proven to be neuroprotective in experimental brain injury. The authors hypothesized that xenon would improve outcome from focal cerebral ischemia with a delayed treatment onset and prolonged recovery interval. METHODS: Rats were ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Mn porphyrins as novel molecular magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents.

Journal Article J Endourol · November 2012 BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In this study, we investigated the potential of a new class of therapeutic Mn porphyrins as molecular MRI probes for prostate cancer imaging. Two compounds of different bioavailibility were investigated: Mn(III) meso-tetrakis(N-ethy ... Full text Link to item Cite

Exercise modulation of the host-tumor interaction in an orthotopic model of murine prostate cancer.

Journal Article J Appl Physiol (1985) · July 2012 The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of exercise on cancer progression, metastasis, and underlying mechanisms in an orthotopic model of murine prostate cancer. C57BL/6 male mice (6-8 wk of age) were orthotopically injected with transgeni ... Full text Link to item Cite

Synthesis and preliminary evaluation of n.c.a. iodoquine: a novel radiotracer with high uptake in cells with high ALDH1 expression.

Journal Article Curr Radiopharm · January 2012 PURPOSE: Chloroquine has demonstrated high affinity for aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1), an enzyme expressed in the highly tumorigenic CD133+ brain tumor initiating subpopulation. The purpose of this study is to report the novel synthesis of a chloroqui ... Full text Link to item Cite

Mn-porphyrins as novel molecular magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents.

Journal Article J Endourol · November 3, 2011 BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In this study, we investigated the potential of a new class of therapeutic Mn porphyrins as molecular MRI probes for prostate cancer imaging. Two compounds of different bioavailibility were investigated: Mn(III) meso-tetrakis(N-ethy ... Full text Link to item Cite

Radiation dose exposure for lumbar spine epidural steroid injections: a comparison of conventional fluoroscopy data and CT fluoroscopy techniques.

Journal Article AJR Am J Roentgenol · October 2011 OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to compare the radiation dose of conventional fluoroscopy-guided lumbar epidural steroid injections (ESIs) and CT fluoroscopy (CTF)-guided lumbar ESI using both clinical data and anthropomorphic phantoms. MATERIALS ... Full text Link to item Cite

MR imaging of fetal goiter.

Journal Article AJNR Am J Neuroradiol · September 2011 Full text Link to item Cite

Shank3 mutant mice display autistic-like behaviours and striatal dysfunction.

Journal Article Nature · April 28, 2011 Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) comprise a range of disorders that share a core of neurobehavioural deficits characterized by widespread abnormalities in social interactions, deficits in communication as well as restricted interests and repetitive behavio ... Full text Link to item Cite

Hedgehog signaling antagonist promotes regression of both liver fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in a murine model of primary liver cancer.

Journal Article PLoS One · 2011 OBJECTIVE: Chronic fibrosing liver injury is a major risk factor for hepatocarcinogenesis in humans. Mice with targeted deletion of Mdr2 (the murine ortholog of MDR3) develop chronic fibrosing liver injury. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) emerges spontaneou ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

CT fluoroscopy-assisted cervical transforaminal steroid injection: tips, traps, and use of contrast material.

Journal Article AJR Am J Roentgenol · October 2010 OBJECTIVE: CT fluoroscopy-assisted cervical transforaminal steroid injection is an effective therapeutic option for cervical radiculopathy, yet it is approached with trepidation by some interventionalists. CT fluoroscopy is superior to conventional fluoros ... Full text Link to item Cite

CT-Guided Cervical Nerve Root Blocks: Tips, Traps, and Contrast Utilization

Conference AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ROENTGENOLOGY · May 1, 2010 Link to item Cite

Brain natriuretic peptide improves long-term functional recovery after acute CNS injury in mice.

Journal Article J Neurotrauma · January 2010 There is emerging evidence to suggest that brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is elevated after acute brain injury, and that it may play an adaptive role in recovery through augmentation of cerebral blood flow (CBF). Through a series of experiments, we tested ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Pharmacogenomic effects of apolipoprotein e on intracerebral hemorrhage.

Journal Article Stroke · February 2009 BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of APOE genotype and the feasibility of administering an apolipoprotein E-mimetic therapeutic to modify outcomes in a murine model of intracerebral hemorrhage. METHODS: Intracerebr ... Full text Link to item Cite

[I-125] iodoquine uptake in tumor cell lines with high ALDH expression

Conference EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE AND MOLECULAR IMAGING · October 1, 2007 Link to item Cite

Molecular imaging in Alzheimer's disease.

Journal Article Neuroimaging Clin N Am · November 2005 Molecular imaging represents a new term for a long-standing quest to image cellular and molecular processes in vivo. The development of a successful molecular imaging approach starts with a well-defined diagnostic question best answered using in vivo imagi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Changes in magnetization transfer MRI correlate with spreading depression-induced astroglial reactivity and increased protein expression in mice.

Journal Article AJR Am J Roentgenol · December 2004 OBJECTIVE: Gliosis refers to a range of glial cell transformations that vary according to specific brain pathologic states. Disease, however, is not a prerequisite for gliosis because glial reactivity may also be seen in regions of increased physiologic ac ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cytoskeletal actin gates a Cl- channel in neocortical astrocytes.

Journal Article J Neurosci · March 1, 1998 Increases in astroglial Cl- conductance accompany changes in cell morphology and disassembly of cytoskeletal actin, but Cl- channels underlying these conductance increases have not been described. We characterize an outwardly rectifying Cl- channel in rode ... Full text Link to item Cite

Astroglial acid-base dynamics in hyperglycemic and normoglycemic global ischemia.

Journal Article Neurosci Biobehav Rev · March 1997 Biochemical, histological, and physiological evidence suggest strongly that astrocytes may either defend or damage brain tissue, depending on the brain carbohydrate content preceding global ischemia (28,43). This paper will first review the concept of acid ... Full text Link to item Cite

Whole-cell chloride currents in rat astrocytes accompany changes in cell morphology.

Journal Article J Neurosci · April 15, 1996 Astrocytes can change shape dramatically in response to increased physiological and pathological demands, yet the functional consequences of morphological change are unknown. We report the expression of Cl- currents after manipulations that alter astrocyte ... Full text Link to item Cite

Brain cell acid-base changes measured with ion-selective microelectrodes

Journal Article Methods in Neurosciences · January 1, 1995 Ion-selective microelectrodes (ISMs) provide an unparalleled tool for the simultaneous characterization of electrophysiologic and ionic properties of identified cells within functioning tissue. A simultaneous measurement of ionic activities and cell electr ... Full text Cite

Astrocyte cytolysis by MHC class II-specific mouse T cell clones.

Journal Article Transplantation · August 1993 The brain is "immunologically privileged," in part because class I and II MHC antigens are not normally present on glia or neurons. However, under certain conditions such as transplantation, glial cells express MHC proteins at levels sufficient for glia to ... Full text Link to item Cite

Interferon-gamma and tumour necrosis factor induce expression of major histocompatibility complex antigen on rat retinal astrocytes.

Journal Article Br J Ophthalmol · August 1991 Cultured rat retinal astrocytes were tested by indirect immunofluorescence staining for their ability to express class I and II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens under basal culture conditions and after three days of stimulation with two reco ... Full text Link to item Cite