Abnormalities of central motor conduction in Parkinson's disease.
The new technique of magnetic stimulation was used to measure amplitude of the motor evoked potential (MEP) recorded from abductor digiti minimi whilst stimulating at the head, and motor conduction time (MCT) between head and neck. Bilateral studies were made in 12 normal subjects and 56 patients with Parkinson's disease. The amplitudes of the MEPs were significantly larger (P less than 0.05) in the patients (mean 1.6 mV, SD 1.4) compared with the normal subjects (mean 0.9 mV, SE 0.6). MCTs were significantly shorter (P less than 0.001) in patients (mean 8.1 ms, SD 1.3) compared with the normal subjects (mean 9.4 ms, SD 1.2). Although the pathophysiological basis of these changes has not been determined, they provide objective measurements which may be clinically valuable in monitoring therapy.
Kandler
R H
RH
Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, U.K.
Jarratt
J A
JA
Sagar
H J
HJ
Gumpert
E J
EJ
Venables
G S
GS
Davies-Jones
G A
GA
Jordan
N
N
D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D006801:Humans; D008280:Magnetics; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009431:Neural Conduction; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*