News

March
15th
Neck muscle afferents influence oromotor and cardiorespiratory brainstem neural circuits.
Edwards IJ, Lall VK, Paton JF, Yanagawa Y, Szabo G, Deuchars SA, Deuchars J. - March 15, 2014

Sensory information arising from the upper neck is important in the reflex control of posture and eye position. It has also been linked to the autonomic control of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Whiplash associated disorders (WAD) and cervical dystonia, which involve disturbance to the neck region, can often present with abnormalities to the oromotor, respiratory and cardiovascular systems. We investigated the potential neural pathways underlying such symptoms.
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March
15th
The impact and prognosis for dystonia in childhood including dystonic cerebral palsy: a clinical and demographic tertiary cohort study.
Lin JP, Lumsden DE, Gimeno H, Kaminska M. - March 15, 2014

Of 294/315 assessable children, 15/294 had pure spasticity, leaving 279/294 with dystonia classified as primary (30/279: 10.7%); primary-plus (19/279: 6.8%) and secondary (230/279: 82.4%) dystonia, including heredodegenerative dystonia (29/279: 10.3%); 150/279 (53.7%) with cerebral palsy and 51/279 (18.2%) acquired brain injury. Definitive diagnoses were available in 222/294 (79.6%), but lower in primary/primary-plus compared with secondary groups (11/49 vs 211/230: Fisher's exact test p<0.0001).
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March
15th
More than at the Neuromuscular Synapse: Actions of Botulinum Neurotoxin A in the Central Nervous System.
Mazzocchio R, Caleo M. - March 15, 2014

Botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT/A) is a metalloprotease that produces a sustained yet transitory blockade of transmitter release from peripheral nerve terminals. Local delivery of this neurotoxin is successfully employed in clinical practice to reduce muscle hyperactivity such as in spasticity and dystonia, and to relieve pain with long-lasting therapeutic effects. However, not all BoNT/A effects can be explained by an action at peripheral nerve terminals.
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March
15th
Asymmetric pallidal neuronal activity in patients with cervical dystonia.
Moll CK, Galindo-Leon E, Sharott A, Gulberti A, Buhmann C, Koeppen JA, Biermann M, Bäumer T, Zittel S, Westphal M, et al. - March 15, 2014

The origin of asymmetric clinical manifestation of symptoms in patients suffering from cervical dystonia (CD) is hitherto poorly understood. Dysregulated neuronal activity in the basal ganglia has been suggested to have a role in the pathophysiology of CD. Here, we re-assessed the question to what extent relative changes occur in the direct vs. indirect basal ganglia pathway in CD, whether these circuit changes are lateralized, and how these alterations relate to CD symptoms.
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March
15th
Mutations in GNAL: A Novel Cause of Craniocervical Dystonia.
Kumar KR, Lohmann K, Masuho I, Miyamoto R, Ferbert A, Lohnau T, Kasten M, Hagenah J, Brüggemann N, Graf J, Münchau A, et al. - March 15, 2014

IMPORTANCE Mutations in the GNAL gene have recently been shown to cause primary torsion dystonia. The GNAL-encoded protein (Gαolf) is important for dopamine D1 receptor function and odorant signal transduction. We sequenced all 12 exons of GNAL in 461 patients from Germany, Serbia, and Japan, including 318 patients with dystonia (190 with cervical dystonia), 51 with hyposmia and Parkinson disease, and 92 with tardive dyskinesia or acute dystonic reactions.
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News

Neck muscle afferents influence oromotor and cardiorespiratory brainstem neural circuits.

The impact and prognosis for dystonia in childhood including dystonic cerebral palsy: a clinical and demographic tertiary cohort study.

More than at the Neuromuscular Synapse: Actions of Botulinum Neurotoxin A in the Central Nervous System.

Asymmetric pallidal neuronal activity in patients with cervical dystonia.

Mutations in GNAL: A Novel Cause of Craniocervical Dystonia.

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