Defective cortical drive to muscle in Parkinson's disease and its improvement with levodopa

We recorded whole-scalp magnetoencephalographic (MEG) signals simultaneously with surface electromyographic (EMG) activity from eight patients with Parkinson's disease after withdrawal and reinstatement of treatment with levodopa. Variations were seen in the coherence between the forearm extens...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain (London, England : 1878) Vol. 125; no. Pt 3; p. 491
Main Authors: Salenius, Stephan, Avikainen, Sari, Kaakkola, Seppo, Hari, Riitta, Brown, Peter
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England 01.03.2002
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Anterior Horn Cells - drug effects
Anterior Horn Cells - physiology
Antiparkinson Agents - therapeutic use
Basal Ganglia - drug effects
Basal Ganglia - physiopathology
Biological Clocks - drug effects
Biological Clocks - physiology
Cortical Synchronization - drug effects
Efferent Pathways - drug effects
Efferent Pathways - physiopathology
Electromyography
Female
Humans
Levodopa - therapeutic use
Magnetoencephalography
Male
Middle Aged
Motor Cortex - drug effects
Motor Cortex - physiopathology
Muscle Contraction - drug effects
Muscle Contraction - physiology
Muscle, Skeletal - drug effects
Muscle, Skeletal - physiopathology
Parkinson Disease - drug therapy
Parkinson Disease - pathology
Parkinson Disease - physiopathology
Recovery of Function - drug effects
Recovery of Function - physiology
Treatment Outcome
ISSN:0006-8950
Online Access:Get more information
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Summary:We recorded whole-scalp magnetoencephalographic (MEG) signals simultaneously with surface electromyographic (EMG) activity from eight patients with Parkinson's disease after withdrawal and reinstatement of treatment with levodopa. Variations were seen in the coherence between the forearm extensor EMG and the MEG signal originating near or in the hand region of the primary motor cortex. As a group, the parkinsonian patients withdrawn from levodopa showed a reduction in the coherence at 15-30 Hz and 35-60 Hz, and a further three untreated patients had abnormally strong MEG-EMG coherence at 5-12 Hz compared with when medicated or with eight healthy age-matched control subjects. We conclude that the basal ganglia have a specific effect on the temporal organization of motor cortical activity during voluntary tonic contraction. Abnormalities in this aspect of basal ganglia function may directly contribute to bradykinesia and weakness in Parkinson's disease.
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ISSN:0006-8950
DOI:10.1093/brain/awf042