title: Comparison of movement related cortical potential in healthy people and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To understand the brain motor functions and neurophysiological changes due to motor disorder by comparing electroencephalographic data between healthy people and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The movement related cortical potential (MRCP) was recorded from seven healthy subjects and four ALS patients. They were asked to imagine right wrist extension at two speeds (fast and slow). The peak negativity (PN) and rebound rate (RR) were extracted from MRCP for comparison.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The statistical analysis has showed that there was no significant difference in PN between the healthy and the ALS subjects. However, the healthy subjects presented faster RR than ALS during both fast and slow movement imagination.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The weaker RR of ALS patients might reflect the impairment of motor output pathways or the degree of motor degeneration.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The comparison between healthy people and ALS patients provides a way to explain the movement disorder through brain electrical signal. In addition, the characteristics of MRCP could be used to monitor and guide brain plasticity in patients.
authors.affiliation: Center for Sensory-Motor Interaction, Aalborg University Aalborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Farina
authors.forename: Ander R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Murguialday
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dremstrup
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Birbaumer
keywords: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); brain computer interface (BCI); electroencephalography (EEG); movement imagination; movement related cortical potential (MRCP)