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Motor Planning (motor + planning)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	75%

Selected Abstracts

Glutamate receptor stimulation induces a persistent rhythmicity of the GABAergic inputs to rat midbrain dopaminergic neurons

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 5 2001
Nicola Berretta
Abstract The substantia nigra pars compacta and the ventral tegmental area are part of a complex network in the basal ganglia involved in behaviours as diverse as motor planning, generation of pleasure and drug addiction. Here we report that in the dopaminergic neurons of the rat ventral midbrain a brief coactivation of group I metabotropic and NMDA glutamate receptors may transform a temporally dispersed synaptic GABAergic input into a rhythmic pattern (range 4.5,22.5 Hz), probably through a mechanism involving electrotonic couplings. The plastic and long-lasting modification in the temporal code of the inhibitory synaptic activity induced by glutamate may be a key element in determining the function of midbrain dopaminergic neurons in both normal and pathological behaviour. [source]

Structural white matter abnormalities in patients with idiopathic dystonia

MOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 8 2007
Leonardo Bonilha MD
Abstract We investigated whether structural white matter abnormalities, in the form of disruption of axonal coherence and integrity as measured with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), constitute an underlying pathological mechanism of idiopathic dystonia (ID), independent of genotype status. We studied seven subjects with ID: all had cervical dystonia as their main symptom (one patient also had spasmodic dysphonia and two patients had concurrent generalized dystonia, both DYT1-negative). We compared DTI MR images of patients with 10 controls, evaluating differences in mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA). ID was associated with increased FA values in the thalamus and adjacent white matter, and in the white matter underlying the middle frontal gyrus. ID was also associated with increase in MD in adjacent white matter to the pallidum and putamen bilaterally, left caudate, and in subcortical hemispheric regions, including the postcentral gyrus. Abnormal FA and MD in patients with ID indicate that abnormal axonal coherence and integrity contribute to the pathophysiology of dystonia. These findings suggest that ID is not only a functional disorder, but also associated with structural brain changes. Impaired connectivity and disrupted flow of information may contribute to the impairment of motor planning and regulation in dystonia. © 2006 Movement Disorder Society [source]

Effect of ropinirole on visuo-motor test in newly diagnosed Parkinson's disease patients

ACTA NEUROLOGICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 5 2006
S. Badarny
Objectives,,, The aim of this study was to assess the sensitivity of the visuo-motor test (VMT) compared with the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) in newly diagnosed Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Methods,,, VMT and UPDRS were carried out in 20 patients before treatment onset, 2 weeks after treatment with ropinirole 1.5 mg/day and 2 weeks following increasing the dose of ropinirole to 3.0 mg/day. Results,,, Improvement in clinical status was seen in all patients, with a mean UPDRS reduction of 16.6% following treatment with ropinirole 1.5 mg/day, and 38.9% reduction in UPDRS observed with ropinirole 3.0 mg/day. Initial improvement was not correlated with severity of PD, although further improvement with ropinirole 3.0 mg/day correlated linearly with patient's baseline UPDRS. Improvement in the ability to control the direction of the moving hand during tracing is expressed by the reduction of VMT variables following treatment. Mean VMT variables were 36.2% at baseline, 34.0% with ropinirole 1.5 mg/day and 31.7% with ropinirole 3.0 mg/day. Although changes in VMT variables were less uniform across patients, on average, it did correlate with patients UPDRS. Conclusions,,, We suggest that VMT can be useful in the assessment of treatment effect on high-level motor planning and cognitive capabilities in newly diagnosed PD patients, added to the UPDRS which does not appropriately comply with those skills. [source]

Quality of performance of everyday activities in children with spina bifida: a population-based study

ACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 10 2009
M Peny-Dahlstrand
Abstract Aim:, The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of the performance of everyday activities in children with spina bifida. Methods:, Fifty children with spina bifida (of 65 children in a geographic cohort), aged 6 to14 years, were evaluated with Assessment of Motor and Process Skills. Results:, Compared with age-normative values, 60% of the children with spina bifida were found to have motor ability measures below 2 SD and 48% process ability measures below 2 SD. Most of the children with spina bifida had difficulties performing well-known everyday activities in an effortless, efficient and independent way, relating to both motor and process skills. The motor skills hardest to accomplish involved motor planning and the process skills hardest to accomplish were adaptation of performance and initiations of new steps, thus actually getting the task done. Conclusion:, To reach autonomy in life, children with spina bifida may need particular guidance to learn not only how to do things but also how to get things done. [source]