Authors: C Konrad A Jansen H Henningsen J Sommer P A Turski B R Brooks S Knecht
Publish Date: 2006/03/25
Volume: 172, Issue: 3, Pages: 361-
Abstract
The cerebral cortex reorganizes in response to central or peripheral lesions Although basal ganglia and cerebellum are key components of the network dedicated to movement control their role in motor reorganization remains elusive We therefore tested if slowly progressive neurodegenerative motor disease alters the subcortical functional anatomy of the basal gangliathalamocerebellar circuitry Ten patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS and ten healthy controls underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging fMRI while executing a simple finger flexion task Cued by an acoustic trigger they squeezed a handgrip force transducer with their right hand at 10 of their maximum voluntary contraction force Movement frequency amplitude and force were controlled Statistical parametric mapping of taskrelated BOLDresponse revealed increased activation in ALS patients as compared to healthy controls The main activation increases were found in the supplementary motor area basal ganglia brainstem and cerebellum These findings suggest that degeneration of cortical and spinal motor neurons in ALS leads to a recruitment of subcortical motor structures These subcortical activation patterns strongly resemble functional activation in motor learning and might therefore represent adaptations of corticosubcortical motor loops as a—albeit finally ineffective—mechanism to compensate for the ongoing loss of motor neurons in ALSThis work was supported by the NRWNachwuchsgruppe Kn2000 of the NordrheinWestfalen Ministry of Education and Research Fö1KS9604/0 the Interdisciplinary Center of Clinical Research Münster IZKF Projects FG2 Kne3/074/04 FG4 the Innovative Medizinische Forschung Münster KN520301 the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Kn 285/61 and 63 the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association and the Muscular Dystrophy Association—ALS Division
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