Sensorimotor Integration and GABA-ergic Activity in Embouchure Dystonia: An Assessment with Magnetoencephalography

Embouchure dystonia (ED) is a task-specific dystonia affecting musicians thought to be related to alteration in sensorimotor processing and loss of cortical inhibition.

Magnetoencephalography-coherence source imaging (MEG-CSI) was used to map connectivity between brain regions by imaging neuronal oscillations that are coherent across the brain in patient with ED at rest and while using the index finger to evoke dystonia normally triggered by playing the flute.

During rest, there was increased coherence in the bilateral frontal and parietal regions that became more focal during dystonia. Diffuse hyperexcitability and increased coherence persisted in bilateral parietal regions as well as the bilateral frontal regions.