Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Disrupted Superior Collicular Activity May Reveal Cervical Dystonia Disease Pathomechanisms, Eavan Mcgovern, Owen Killian, Shruti Narasimham, Brendan Quinlivan, John Butler, Rebecca Beck, Ines Beiser, Laura Williams, Ronan P. Kileen, Michael Farrell, Sean O'Riordan, Richard B. Reilly, Michael Hutchinson

Articles

Cervical dystonia is a common neurological movement disorder characterised by muscle contractions causing abnormal movements and postures afecting the head and neck. The neural networks underpinning this condition are incompletely understood. While animal models suggest a role for the superior colliculus in its pathophysiology, this link has yet to be established in humans. The present experiment was designed to test the hypothesis that disrupted superior collicular processing is evident in afected patients and in relatives harbouring a disease-specifc endophenotype (abnormal temporal discrimination). The study participants were 16 cervical dystonia patients, 16 unafected frst-degree relatives with abnormal temporal discrimination, 16 unafected …