Purpose
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder characterized by tremor,
rigidity,
and slowness of movements.
PD is associated with progressive neuronal loss of the substantia nigra and other brain structures.1 It is currently believed that movement symptoms involved in PD caused by interference of motor program execution result form dysfunctional basal ganglia-motor cortex circuits as well as abnormalities in peripheral afferent inputs or central processing.2,
3 The successful execution of a voluntary movement critically depends on peripheral sensory feedback.
Sensorimotor integration is the process...
Methods and Materials
Subjects
Twenty-one right-handed Hoehn and Yahr stages 1 and 2 Parkinson’s disease patients (11 female,
10 male; age range,
43-81 years,
mean age 60.43 ± 9.65) were identified.
The diagnosis of early Parkinson’s disease was based on medical history,
physical and neurological examinations,
response to levodopa or dopaminergic drugs,
laboratory tests and MRI scans to exclude other diseases.
Patients were examined only after their medication had been withdrawn for at least 15 hours.
Patients were assessed using the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS),14 the...
Results
For each group,
we compared the BOLD signal obtained during performance of tactile,
movement,
and tactile-movement integration trials,
with that obtained during the corresponding period in the control condition.
We also conducted inter-group analyses.
Tactile tasks
Inter-group comparisons showed greater activation in the healthy control subjects compared with the PD patients in the bilateral somatosensory cortex (area 1/3),
the parietal lobe (area 7/31),
the left premotor cortex (area 6),
and the right visual cortex (area 19).
In contrast,
less activation was found in controls’ the...
Conclusion
The current results provide novel insights into the cortical components of sensorimotor integration that may underlie the motor symptoms of PD.
In particular,
our findings suggest an important role of initial sensory input and movement outcomes related to extrastriate visual cortex activity.
Future work should focus on elucidating the precise multisensory role of extrastriate visual cortex.
References
1. Gelb DJ,
Oliver E,
Gilman S.
Diagnostic criteria for Parkinson disease.
Arch Neurol 1999;56:33-39.
2. Ali Samil,
John G Nutt,
Bruce R Ransom.
Parkinson’s Disease.
THE LANCET 2004;363:1783-1793.
3. Giovanni Abbruzzese ,
Alfredo Berardelli.
Sensorimotor integration in Movement Disorders.
Movement Disorders 2003;18(3):231-240.
4. Baglio F,
Blasi V,
Falini A,
Farina E,
Mantovani F,
Olivotto F,
Scotti G,
Nemni R,
Bozzali M.
Functional brain changes in early Parkinson’s disease during motor response and motor inhibition.
Neurobiol Aging 2011; 32(1):115-124.
5.
Giovanni Abbruzzese ,
Alfredo Berardelli....