title: Primary somatosensory cortical plasticity and tactile temporal discrimination in focal hand dystonia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether theta burst stimulation (TBS) applied over primary somatosensory cortex (S1) modulates somatosensory temporal discrimination threshold (STDT) and writing performances in patients with focal hand dystonia (FHD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve patients with FHD underwent STDT testing and writing tasks before and after intermittent, continuous, or sham TBS (iTBS, cTBS, sham TBS) over S1 contralateral to the affected hand. Twelve healthy subjects underwent iTBS and cTBS over S1 and STDT values were tested on the right hand before and after TBS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Baseline STDT values were higher in patients than in healthy subjects on both the affected and unaffected hand. In patients and healthy subjects iTBS decreased, whereas cTBS increased STDT values and did so to a similar extent in both groups. In patients, although STDT values decreased after iTBS, they did not normalize. S1 modulation did not improve the writing performance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients, S1 responds normally to protocols inducing homotopic synaptic plasticity. The inhibitory interneuron activity responsible for STDT is altered.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The pathophysiological mechanisms underlying abnormal temporal discrimination differ from those responsible for motor symptoms in FHD.
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Neuromed, Via Atinense 18, 86077 Pozzilli, Italy; Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale dell'Università 30, 00185 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Conte
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale dell'Università 30, 00185 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rocchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale dell'Università 30, 00185 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Gina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferrazzano
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale dell'Università 30, 00185 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leodori
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Neuromed, Via Atinense 18, 86077 Pozzilli, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bologna
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Neuromed, Via Atinense 18, 86077 Pozzilli, Italy.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li Voti
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Neuromed, Via Atinense 18, 86077 Pozzilli, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nardella
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Neuromed, Via Atinense 18, 86077 Pozzilli, Italy; Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale dell'Università 30, 00185 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: alfredo.berardelli@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berardelli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D020821:Dystonic Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055698:Touch Perception; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / Q000379:methods
keywords: Cortical plasticity; Focal hand dystonia; Primary somatosensory cortex; Somatosensory temporal discrimination; Theta-burst stimulation