The contribution of TMS to frontotemporal dementia variants.
OBJECTIVE
Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) includes different heterogeneous conditions mainly characterized by personality changes and cognitive deficits in language and executive functions; movement disorders have also been associated with FTLD. The present study aimed to measure the primary motor cortex (M1) inhibitory and facilitatory functions in patients affected by FTLD.


METHODS
The study included 17 FTLD patients, 8 age-matched healthy controls and 8 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used to study intracortical inhibition (ICI) and facilitation (ICF) by using a double-pulse paradigm.


RESULTS
FTLD patients were comparable with controls and AD patients for ICI and ICF. Corticobasal degeneration (CBD) patients presented significant reduced inhibition at ISI3; moreover two out of seven CBD patients had only ipsilateral responses.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study reveals a selective impairment of M1 ICI inhibitory response in CBD, which may help in distinguishing among the FTLD clinical spectrum.
Alberici
A
A
Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Brescia, Italy. antoalberici@yahoo.it
Bonato
C
C
Calabria
M
M
Agosti
C
C
Zanetti
O
O
Miniussi
C
C
Padovani
A
A
Rossini
P M
PM
Borroni
B
B
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology; D003704:Dementia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D019054:Evoked Potentials, Motor / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation