Motor Cortex Excitability in Neuromuscular disorders

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Motor Cortex Excitability in Neuropathy and Myopathy

• IRAS ID

  178860

• Contact name

  Ramamurthy Arunachalam

• Contact email

  rama.arunachalam@uhs.nhs.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University Hospitals Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 7 months, 6 days

• Research summary

  Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a well-established and widely used technique in clinical neurophysiology. It involves stimulating the motor cortex of the brain with a magnetic coil and recording the evoked responses from specific limb muscles. It is also a very valuable research tool, particularly in assessing cortical excitability and is evidenced by the growing number of publications in this field.

  Motor cortex excitability has been widely studied using TMS with standardised protocols. This is altered in various disease states. In some conditions there is hyperexcitability of the motor cortex, while in others there is an increase in inhibitory activity.
  
  Patients with neuropathy and myopathy often experience muscle weakness. The weakness in these conditions is of peripheral origin. It is hypothesised that there is an alteration in the central motor cortical connections to compensate for this. In studies looking at motor cortex excitability in various muscle diseases, there is a suggestion that this is the case (Liepert 2004). There is possibly some disinhibition and increase in excitability of the motor neurons in muscle disorders. This may not be the case with peripheral nerve disorders, where an increase in central drive is less likely to have an impact on the weakness.

  Prospective studies comparing cortical excitability in neuropathies and myopathies have not been carried out before. We aim to investigate the differences if any in the excitability of the motor cortex in subjects with neuropathy and those with myopathy.

• REC name

  North East - York Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  15/NE/0346

• Date of REC Opinion

  23 Oct 2015

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion