Bradykinesia in motoneuron diseases.
Clin Neurophysiol
; 132(10): 2558-2566, 2021 10.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34479133
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
Only few studies investigated voluntary movement abnormalities in patients with motoneuron diseases (MNDs) or their neurophysiological correlates. We aimed to kinematically assess finger tapping abnormalities in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and primary lateral sclerosis (PLS), as compared to healthy controls (HCs), and their relationship with motoneuron involvement.METHODS:
Fourteen ALS and 5 PLS patients were enrolled. Finger tapping was assessed by a motion analysis system. Patients underwent a central motor conduction time assessment, a motor nerve conduction study, and needle electromyography. Data were compared to those of 79 HCs using non-parametric tests. Possible relationships between clinical, kinematic, and neurophysiological data were assessed in patients.RESULTS:
As a major finding, ALS and PLS patients performed finger tapping slower than HCs. In both conditions, movement slowness correlated with muscle strength. In ALS, movement slowness also correlated with the amplitude of the compound muscle action potential recorded from the muscles involved in the task and with denervation activity. No correlations were found between slowness, measures of upper motoneuron involvement, and other clinical and neurophysiological data.CONCLUSIONS:
This study provides novel information on voluntary movement abnormalities in MNDs.SIGNIFICANCE:
The results highlight the pathophysiological role of motoneurons in generating movement slowness.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Motor Neuron Disease
/
Hypokinesia
/
Motor Neurons
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
Clin Neurophysiol
Journal subject:
NEUROLOGIA
/
PSICOFISIOLOGIA
Year:
2021
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Italy