Balla Christina, Maertens de Noordhout Alain, Pepin Jean Louis
University Department of Neurology - CHR Citadelle, Liège, Belgium.
Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2014;38(3-4):264-70. doi: 10.1159/000360617. Epub 2014 Jun 25.
Recent neuroimaging studies in humans support the clinical observations that the motor cortex is affected early in the course of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
We used transcranial magnetic stimulation to measure the active cortical motor threshold (ACMT) in AD patients in the very early stage of the disease, and we explored whether and in which way the pharmacologic manipulation of the cholinergic system could have a direct effect on the excitability of the motor cortex.
An increase of the ACMT was observed in AD patients in the early stage in comparison to controls. After 2 months of treatment with donepezil, the threshold did not differ significantly from normal subjects.
The results suggest an early functional impairment of cholinergic neurotransmission in AD, which is associated to early changes in the excitability of the motor system.
近期针对人类的神经影像学研究支持了以下临床观察结果，即运动皮层在阿尔茨海默病（AD）病程早期就会受到影响。
我们采用经颅磁刺激来测量疾病极早期AD患者的主动皮层运动阈值（ACMT），并探究胆碱能系统的药物调控是否以及以何种方式对运动皮层的兴奋性产生直接影响。
与对照组相比，观察到早期AD患者的ACMT升高。多奈哌齐治疗2个月后，该阈值与正常受试者无显著差异。
结果表明AD中胆碱能神经传递存在早期功能损害，这与运动系统兴奋性的早期变化相关。
