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Nardone R, Sebastianelli L, Versace V, Orioli A, Saltuari L, Trinka E, Höller Y. Involvement of central sensory pathways in subjects with restless legs syndrome: A neurophysiological study. Brain Res 2021; 1772:147673. [PMID: 34597651 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2021.147673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Revised: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 09/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
In patients with restless legs syndrome (RLS) a motor cortical disinhibition has been reported in transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies, but the neuronal excitability in other cortical areas has been poorly explored. The aim of this study was the functional evaluation of thalamo-cortical circuits and inhibitory cortical responses in the sensory cortex in RLS. We assessed the high-frequency somatosensory evoked potentials (HF-SEP) in sixteen subjects suffering from RLS of different degrees of severity. In patients with severe or very severe RLS we found a significant desynchronization with amplitude reduction of both pre- and post-synaptic HF-SEP bursts, which suggest an impairment in the thalamo-cortical projections and in the cortical inhibitory interneurons activity, respectively. The assessment of the central sensory pathways by means of HF-SEP may shed light on the pathophysiological mechanisms of RLS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raffaele Nardone
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of Merano (SABES-ASDAA), Merano-Meran, Italy; Department of Neurology, Christian Doppler Klinik, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria; Spinal Cord Injury and Tissue Regeneration Center, Salzburg, Austria; Karl Landsteiner Institut für Neurorehabilitation und Raumfahrtneurologie, Salzburg, Austria.
| | - Luca Sebastianelli
- Department of Neurorehabilitation, Hospital of Vipiteno (SABES-ASDAA), Vipiteno-Sterzing, Italy, and Research Department for Neurorehabilitation South Tyrol, Bolzano, Italy
| | - Viviana Versace
- Department of Neurorehabilitation, Hospital of Vipiteno (SABES-ASDAA), Vipiteno-Sterzing, Italy, and Research Department for Neurorehabilitation South Tyrol, Bolzano, Italy
| | - Andrea Orioli
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of Merano (SABES-ASDAA), Merano-Meran, Italy
| | - Leopold Saltuari
- Department of Neurorehabilitation, Hospital of Vipiteno (SABES-ASDAA), Vipiteno-Sterzing, Italy, and Research Department for Neurorehabilitation South Tyrol, Bolzano, Italy; Department of Neurology, Hochzirl Hospital, Zirl, Austria
| | - Eugen Trinka
- Department of Neurology, Christian Doppler Klinik, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria; Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Salzburg, Austria; University for Medical Informatics and Health Technology, UMIT, Hall in Tirol, Austria
| | - Yvonne Höller
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Akureyri, Iceland
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