title: Functional involvement of cerebral cortex in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
abstract: Transcranial stimulation was performed in 4 patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and 4 control subjects. The patients' central motor conduction time was normal. The threshold for evoking electromyographic responses using electrical anodal stimulation was the same in both groups, but the threshold for stimulation with a circular magnetic coil at the vertex was higher in the patients. This is compatible with reduced cortical excitability that may be related to the deficiency of brain synaptic dystrophin.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Neurologia, Università Cattolica, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Di Lazzaro
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Restuccia
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Servidei
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nardone
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oliviero
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Profice
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mangiola
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tonali
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Rothwell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D004056:Differential Threshold; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004576:Electromyography; D006801:Humans; D008280:Magnetics; D008297:Male; D009136:Muscular Dystrophies / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology; D011712:Pyramidal Tracts / Q000503:physiopathology