Abnormal sensorimotor integration correlates with cognitive profile in vascular parkinsonism

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jns.2017.03.050
• Publication Date: 2017-03-31T06:09:03Z
• Authors: Sonia Benítez-Rivero; Francisco J. Palomar; Juan F. Martín-Ro...; Paloma Álvarez de...; María J. Lama; Ismael Huertas-Fe...; María T. Cáceres-...; Paolo Porcacchia; Pablo Mir
• Keywords: Aged, 80 and over; Male; Afferent Pathways; Neuronal Plasticity; Electromyography; Neural Inhibition; Neuropsychological Tests; Evoked Potentials, Motor; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; Median Nerve; 3. Good health; Cerebrovascular Disorders; 03 medical and health sciences; Cognition; 0302 clinical medicine; Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory; Humans; Female; Sensorimotor Cortex; Parkinson Disease, Secondary; Muscle, Skeletal; Aged

Abstract Introduction Vascular parkinsonism is a syndrome that develops as a result of cerebrovascular disease. Although several studies on clinical features and neuroimaging have been published, little is known about its pathophysiology. Our aim was to study sensorimotor integration using transcranial magnetic stimulation in this condition and to correlate the potential abnormalities in this technique with the cognitive profile of these patients. Methods We studied 11 vascular parkinsonism patients and 13 controls. We applied transcranial magnetic stimulation to investigate sensorimotor inhibition and sensorimotor plasticity and we performed extensive neuropsychological examinations. Results Vascular parkinsonism patients showed reduced short latency afferent inhibition and lack of long term potentiation-like plasticity after paired associative stimulation protocol. Correlations were found in these patients between short latency afferent inhibition and sensorimotor plasticity with verbal memory tests. Conclusions Our neurophysiological findings suggest deficiencies of a variety of receptors and signalling systems in vascular parkinsonism, including cortical glutamatergic and cholinergic synapses, which may be a consequence of the disruption of subcortical-cortical connections caused by vascular lesions. The correlations found suggest that these neurotransmitter systems may be involved in the processes of cognitive decline in these patients.