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Published on: November 21, 2013
Basal ganglia-premotor dysfunction during movement imagination in writer's cramp
Florian Castrop1, Christian Dresel, Andreas Hennenlotter
1Department of Neurology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Germany.
Movement Disorders : Official Journal of the Movement Disorder Society
|February 14, 2012
Summary
Patients with writer's cramp exhibit impaired internal movement simulation, showing reduced brain activation during imagined hand movements. This deficit in motor imagery suggests an intrinsic dysfunction in the basal ganglia and premotor cortex, independent of actual motor symptoms.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Neurology
- Movement Disorders
Background:
- Idiopathic focal hand dystonia (writer's cramp) involves impaired basal ganglia inhibition and altered sensorimotor processing.
- It is unclear if these neural alterations are primary or secondary to motor output and sensory input abnormalities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural basis of internal movement simulation in writer's cramp.
- To determine if deficits in motor imagery are an intrinsic feature of dystonia, independent of motor symptoms.
Main Methods:
- Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used.
- Participants performed kinesthetic motor imagery of drawing and passively observed hand movements.
Main Results:
- Patients with writer's cramp showed reduced activation in the sensorimotor cortex, premotor cortex, putamen, and thalamus during motor imagery compared to controls.
- No significant differences in brain activation were observed between groups during the visual observation task.
Conclusions:
- Internal movement simulation and planning are dysfunctional in writer's cramp.
- Deficient basal ganglia-premotor activation during motor imagery may reflect an intrinsic deficit in motor program selection.
- These findings suggest an intrinsic neural abnormality in dystonia, present even without overt motor symptoms.
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