Increased volume and impaired function: the role of the basal ganglia in writer's cramp.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

The pathophysiology of writer's cramp, a task-specific dystonia, remains unclear. The objective of this study was to investigate the basal ganglia circuit and the cerebellum during a complex motor sequence learning task carried out with the nonaffected hand in writer's cramp patients.

Methods

We applied structural and functional imaging in 22 writer's cramp patients and 28 matched controls using 3T MRI. With the asymptomatic left hand all participants learned a complex, sequential, five-element sequence-tapping task as accurately and quickly as possible. Functional imaging was measured during a repeated (15 times), fixed block design with tapping (30 sec) and rest (30 sec). Additionally, gray matter volume of the basal ganglia was analyzed using voxel-based morp

SUBMITTER: Zeuner KE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4309880 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature