TY - JOUR
T1 - Complexity of Motor Sequences and Cortical Reorganization in Parkinson's Disease
T2 - A Functional MRI Study
AU - Caproni, Stefano
AU - Muti, Marco
AU - Principi, Massimo
AU - Ottaviano, Pierfausto
AU - Frondizi, Domenico
AU - Capocchi, Giuseppe
AU - Floridi, Piero
AU - Rossi, Aroldo
AU - Calabresi, Paolo
AU - Tambasco, Nicola
PY - 2013/6/25
Y1 - 2013/6/25
N2 - Motor impairment is the most relevant clinical feature in Parkinson's disease (PD). Functional imaging studies on motor impairment in PD have revealed changes in the cortical motor circuits, with particular involvement of the fronto-striatal network. The aim of this study was to assess brain activations during the performance of three different motor exercises, characterized by progressive complexity, using a functional fMRI multiple block paradigm, in PD patients and matched control subjects. Unlike from single-task comparisons, multi-task comparisons between similar exercises allowed to analyse brain areas involved in motor complexity planning and execution. Our results showed that in the single-task comparisons the involvement of primary and secondary motor areas was observed, consistent with previous findings based on similar paradigms. Most notably, in the multi-task comparisons a greater activation of supplementary motor area and posterior parietal cortex in PD patients, compared with controls, was observed. Furthermore, PD patients, compared with controls, had a lower activation of the basal ganglia and limbic structures, presumably leading to the impairment in the higher levels of motor control, including complexity planning and execution. The findings suggest that in PD patients occur both compensatory mechanisms and loss of efficiency and provide further insight into the pathophysiological role of distinct cortical and subcortical areas in motor dysfunction.
AB - Motor impairment is the most relevant clinical feature in Parkinson's disease (PD). Functional imaging studies on motor impairment in PD have revealed changes in the cortical motor circuits, with particular involvement of the fronto-striatal network. The aim of this study was to assess brain activations during the performance of three different motor exercises, characterized by progressive complexity, using a functional fMRI multiple block paradigm, in PD patients and matched control subjects. Unlike from single-task comparisons, multi-task comparisons between similar exercises allowed to analyse brain areas involved in motor complexity planning and execution. Our results showed that in the single-task comparisons the involvement of primary and secondary motor areas was observed, consistent with previous findings based on similar paradigms. Most notably, in the multi-task comparisons a greater activation of supplementary motor area and posterior parietal cortex in PD patients, compared with controls, was observed. Furthermore, PD patients, compared with controls, had a lower activation of the basal ganglia and limbic structures, presumably leading to the impairment in the higher levels of motor control, including complexity planning and execution. The findings suggest that in PD patients occur both compensatory mechanisms and loss of efficiency and provide further insight into the pathophysiological role of distinct cortical and subcortical areas in motor dysfunction.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84879352919&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84879352919&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0066834
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0066834
M3 - Article
C2 - 23825570
AN - SCOPUS:84879352919
VL - 8
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 6
M1 - e66834
ER -