Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Idiopathic Parkinson’s Disease

OBJECTIVE: Activating the motor cortex via Transcranial
Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) gives information about the central motor
neuronal pathways. It has been used to assess the functional integrity of
motor neurons and descending pathways in different neurological
disorders including Idiopathic Parkinson’s Disease. There are different
conclusions from different studies regarding TMS in IPD patients, but
the most common finding is an increase in MEP amplitude. The aim of this study was to evaluate the functional integrity
of corticomotor neuronal pathways in IPD patients, using TMS.
METHODS: We studied 30 IPD patients (21 male, 9
female) and age and sex matched 30 healty controls with TMS. The MEP
latency and amplitude was recorded and compared between the
patients and controls. The effect of, age of onset, disease duration and
disability degree was evaluated.
RESULTS: We found no difference between the two groups for MEP
latency but there was an increase in MEP ampltiude in patient group.
This finding was correlated with disease duration and disability scales,
and there was no change with dopaminergic treatment.
CONCLUSION: PD is not only a disease of extrapyramidal system and the
central motor neuronal pathways are affected early in the disease
course.