Motor cortex hyperexcitability in subcortical ischemic vascular dementia

Pennisi, Giovanni; Ferri, Raffaele; Alagona, Giovanna; Pennisi, Manuela; Malaguarnera, Giulia; Motta, Massimo; Bella, Rita

doi:10.1016/j.archger.2010.07.004

« Previous Next »Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics
Volume 53, Issue 2 , Pages e111-e113, September 2011

Motor cortex hyperexcitability in subcortical ischemic vascular dementia

Giovanni Pennisi
- University of Catania, Department of Neurosciences, Via S. Sofia 78, I-95123 Catania, Italy
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 095 378 2699; fax: +39 0959 378 2808.
Raffaele Ferri
- Department of Neurology, IRCCS Oasi Troina, Via Conte Ruggero 73, I-94018 Troina (EN), Italy
Giovanna Alagona
- Department of Neurology, Cannizzaro Hospital, Via Messina 829, I-95125 Catania, Italy
Manuela Pennisi
- University of Catania, Department of Neurosciences, Via S. Sofia 78, I-95123 Catania, Italy
Giulia Malaguarnera
- Department of Senescence, Urological and Neurological Sciences, Cannizzaro Hospital, Via Messina 829, I-95125 Catania, Italy
Massimo Motta
- Department of Senescence, Urological and Neurological Sciences, Cannizzaro Hospital, Via Messina 829, I-95125 Catania, Italy
Rita Bella
- University of Catania, Department of Neurosciences, Via S. Sofia 78, I-95123 Catania, Italy

Received 5 March 2010; received in revised form 10 July 2010; accepted 12 July 2010. published online 12 August 2010.

Abstract

To study whether in subcortical ischemic vascular dementia (SIVD) the changes of motor cortex excitability are due to the dementing process or to the cerebrovascular lesions, we examined 20 SIVD patients, 20 patients with subcortical ischemic disease without dementia (SIDWD) and 20 control subjects who underwent transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Motor threshold (MT), amplitudes of motor evoked potentials (MEPs) and silent period (SP) were considered. MT in SIVD patients (32.7±2.6%) was significantly lower (p<0.001) than in SIDWD patients (47.9±3.4%) and in controls (49.1±4.2%). MEP amplitude was larger in SIVD patients (6.8±1.7mV) than in the other groups (5.7±1.9mV and 5.2±1.8mV, p<0.02). Motor cortex excitability is enhanced in SIVD. Our data, taken together with previous results in Alzheimer disease (AD), indicate that motor cortex hyperexcitability is a common finding in different dementing illnesses.