title: TMS follow-up study in patients with vascular cognitive impairment-no dementia.
abstract: Vascular cognitive impairment-no dementia (VCI-ND) is a condition at risk for future dementia and should be the target of preventive strategies. Recently, an enhanced intracortical facilitation observed in VCI-ND patients was proposed as a candidate neurophysiological marker of the disease process. The aim of this study was to monitor the excitability of the motor cortex and the functioning of excitatory/inhibitory intracortical circuits in patients with VCI-ND after a follow-up period of approximately 2 years, in order to pick out early markers of disease progression into dementia. Nine patients and 9 age-matched controls were re-evaluated for single and paired pulse TMS measures of cortical excitability, as well as for neuropsycological and functional assessment. Compared to the first evaluation, patients showed a decrease of the median resting motor threshold (rMT). Patients exhibited a significant worsening at Stroop Color-Word Test Interference scores without substantial functional impairment. Our study represents the first evidence of a decrease of rMT in VCI-ND patients during the progression of cognitive impairment. This result might be considered an index of motor cortex plasticity and interpreted as a compensatory mechanism for the loss of motor cortex neurons.
authors.affiliation: Department GF Ingrassia, Section of Neurosciences, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia, 78-95123 Catania, Italy. rbella@unict.it
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bella
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ferri
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lanza
authors.forename: Mariagiovanna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cantone
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pennisi
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Puglisi
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vinciguerra
authors.forename: Concetto
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Spampinato
authors.forename: Tommaso
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mazza
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Malaguarnera
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pennisi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis; D019054:Evoked Potentials, Motor; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology*; D057190:Stroop Test