Abnormalities of spatial discrimination in focal and generalized dystonia

Sensory processing is impaired in focal hand dystonia (FHD), with most previous studies having evaluated only the symptomatic limb. The purpose of this study was to establish whether the sensory system is affected in other types of dystonias and whether the contralateral hand is also involved in FHD. We used a spatial acuity measure (Johnson-Van Boven-Phillips domes) to evaluate sensory spatial discrimination in both hands of patients with different forms of dystonias including primary generalized DYT1 dystonia (associated with a unique deletion in the DYT1 gene) (n = 13), FHD (n = 15), benign essential blepharospasm (n = 9), cervical dystonia (n = 10) and in age-matched controls. Clinical evaluation included the Fahn dystonia scale for the focal dystonia groups and the Marsden-Burke-Fahn scale for the generalized dystonia group. Spatial discrimination was normal in patients with DYT1 dystonia, despite all of these patients having hand dystonia. However, spatial discrimination thresholds were significantly increased in both hands in the focal dystonia groups (thresholds were similar for each group) and did not correlate significantly with either severity or duration of dystonic symptoms. Thresholds were significantly increased in the dominant hand compared with the non-dominant hand only within the FHD group. Our observations demonstrate involvement of both the dominant and non-dominant somatosensory cortices, and suggest that abnormal sensory processing is a fundamental disturbance in patients with focal dystonia. These findings of altered sensory processing in idiopathic focal but not generalized DYT1 dystonia suggest both a primary pathophysiological role for the phenomenon in focal dystonia and divergent pathophysiological processes in the two conditions.