News

  • August
    27th

    Dystonia rating scales: Critique and recommendations.

    Albanese A, Sorbo FD, Comella C, Jinnah HA, Mink JW, Post B, Vidailhet M, Volkmann J, Warner TT, Leentjens AF, Martinez-Martin P - August 27, 2013

    Many rating scales have been applied to the evaluation ofdystonia, but only few have been assessed for clinimetric properties. The Movement Disorders Society commissioned this task force to critique existing dystonia rating scales and place them in the clinical and clinimetric context. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify rating scales that have either been validated or used in dystonia. Thirty-six potential scales were identified. Eight were excluded because they did not meet review criteria, leaving 28 scales that were critiqued and rated by the task force.

  • August
    26th

    Defective cerebellar control of cortical plasticity in writer's cramp.

    Hubsch C, Roze E, Popa T, Russo M, Balachandran A, Pradeep S, Mueller F, Brochard V, Quartarone A, Degos B, Vidailhet M, Kishore - August 26, 2013

    A large body of evidence points to a role of basal ganglia dysfunction in the pathophysiology of dystonia, but recent studies indicate that cerebellar dysfunction may also be involved. The cerebellum influences sensorimotor adaptation by modulating sensorimotor plasticity of the primary motor cortex. Motor cortex sensorimotor plasticity is maladaptive in patients with writer's cramp. Here we examined whether putative cerebellar dysfunction in dystonia is linked to these patients' maladaptive plasticity.

  • August
    26th

    Keeping your head on target.

    Shaikh AG, Wong AL, Zee DS, Jinnah HA. - August 26, 2013

    The mechanisms by which the human brain controls eye movements are reasonably well understood, but those for the head less so. Here, we show that the mechanisms for keeping the head aimed at a stationary target follow strategies similar to those for holding the eyes steady on stationary targets. Specifically, we applied the neural integrator hypothesis that originally was developed for holding the eyes still in eccentric gaze positions to describe how the head is held still when turned toward an eccentric target.

  • August
    26th

    Torsin A Localization in the Mouse Cerebellar Synaptic Circuitry.

    Puglisi F, Vanni V, Ponterio G, Tassone A, Sciamanna G, Bonsi P, Pisani A, Mandolesi G. - August 26, 2013

    Torsin A (TA) is a ubiquitous protein belonging to the superfamily of proteins called "ATPases associated with a variety of cellular activities" (AAA+ ATPase). To date, a great deal of attention has been focused on neuronal TA since its mutant form causes early-onset (DYT1) torsion dystonia, an inherited movement disorder characterized by sustained muscle contractions and abnormal postures.

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