Dystonia: lessons from brain mapping

Functional neuroimaging with positron emission tomography, single photon emission computer tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and magnetoencephalography have provided powerful tools to elucidate anatomo-functional impairment underlying movement disorders such as dystonic movements. They have revealed that presymptomatic cerebral abnormalities may be a common feature in dystonia whatever the clinical status. Techniques using specific markers have recently focused on the type of receptors that may be dysactivated and on the kind of neurotransmitter that may be dysregulated in dystonia.