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Corticomuscular Coherence: a Novel Tool to Assess the Pyramidal Tract Dysfunction in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 2

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Abstract

Clinical signs of corticospinal tract dysfunction are a common feature of spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) patients. The objective of this study is to assess dysfunction of the corticospinal tract in SCA2 using corticomuscular coherence. Testing corticomuscular coherence and rating of ataxia severity and non-ataxia symptoms were performed in 19 SCA2 patients and 24 age-matched controls. Central motor conduction times (CMCT) to upper and lower right limbs were obtained for the SCA2 group using Transcraneal magnetic stimulation (TMS). SCA2 patients exhibited a significant reduction of corticomuscular coherence for lower limbs, but not for upper limbs. This difference remained significant, even when excluding those individuals with clinical signs of corticospinal tract dysfunction. Corticomuscular coherence for lower limbs correlated inversely with CMCT to tibialis anterior muscle. Corticomuscular coherence could be a valuable electrophysiological tool to assess the corticospinal tract involvement in SCA2, even in the absence of clinical signs of corticospinal tract dysfunction.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the SCA2 patients and the healthy controls for their participation. This work was funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Cuban Ministry of Public Health, and it was carried out while Prof. Luis Velázquez-Pérez was the recipient of the Georg Forster Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department Clinical Neurophysiology, Centre for the Research and Rehabilitation of Hereditary Ataxias, Calle Libertad 26, Holguín, Cuba, 80100

    Luis Velázquez-Pérez, Roberto Rodríguez-Labrada, Reidenis Torres-Vega, Jacqueline Medrano-Montero, Arnoy Peña-Acosta & Nalia Canales-Ochoa

  2. Department Neurology & Stroke, and Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University Tübingen, Hoppe-Seyler-Straße 3, 72076, Tübingen, Germany

    Johannes Tünnerhoff, Paolo Belardinelli & Ulf Ziemann

  3. Department Molecular Neurobiology, Centre for the Research and Rehabilitation of Hereditary Ataxias, Holguín, Cuba

    Yaimeé Vázquez-Mojena & Yanetza González-Zaldivar

  4. Exp. Neurology, Building 89, Goethe University Medical School, Theodor Stern Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Georg Auburger

Authors
  1. Luis Velázquez-Pérez
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  2. Johannes Tünnerhoff
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  3. Roberto Rodríguez-Labrada
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  4. Reidenis Torres-Vega
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  5. Paolo Belardinelli
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  6. Jacqueline Medrano-Montero
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  7. Arnoy Peña-Acosta
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  8. Nalia Canales-Ochoa
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  9. Yaimeé Vázquez-Mojena
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  10. Yanetza González-Zaldivar
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  11. Georg Auburger
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  12. Ulf Ziemann
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Luis Velázquez-Pérez or Ulf Ziemann.

Ethics declarations

This study was approved by the institutional ethics committee and was conducted according to the Declaration of Helsinki.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Funding Statement

This work was funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Cuban Ministry of Public Health, and it was carried out while Prof. Luis Velázquez-Pérez was the recipient of a Georg Forster Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

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Velázquez-Pérez, L., Tünnerhoff, J., Rodríguez-Labrada, R. et al. Corticomuscular Coherence: a Novel Tool to Assess the Pyramidal Tract Dysfunction in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 2. Cerebellum 16, 602–606 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12311-016-0827-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12311-016-0827-4

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