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Motor cortical plasticity in Parkinson's disease
1Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto , Toronto, ON , Canada ; Division of Brain, Imaging and Behavior - Systems Neuroscience, Toronto Western Research Institute , Toronto, ON , Canada.
Frontiers in Neurology
|September 13, 2013
Summary
Parkinson's disease (PD) alters motor cortex plasticity, with inconsistent findings due to factors like disease severity and treatments. Understanding these influences is key for developing PD diagnostic and therapeutic tools.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Neurology
- Movement Disorders
Background:
- Parkinson's disease (PD) involves basal ganglia (BG) thalamocortical network alterations due to dopaminergic neuron degeneration.
- These subcortical changes induce plastic modifications in the primary motor cortex (M1), a potential therapeutic target.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review studies on M1 plasticity in PD.
- To analyze how various clinical, demographic, and technical factors influence M1 plasticity in PD.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies in PD patients.
- Analysis of factors affecting motor cortical plasticity, including disease severity, L-DOPA-induced dyskinesias (LID), deep brain stimulation (DBS), age, genetics, and emotional state.
Main Results:
- Inconsistent findings in M1 plasticity studies in PD are attributed to numerous influencing factors.
- Factors such as dopaminergic loss extent, disease severity, LID, DBS, age, genetics, and emotional state significantly modulate TMS-induced plasticity.
Conclusions:
- Recognizing clinical, demographic, and technical factors is crucial for developing plasticity protocols as diagnostic or prognostic tools for PD.
- Modulating cortical excitability and plasticity via non-invasive brain stimulation aids understanding PD pathophysiology and designing therapies.
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