Tourette Syndrome (TS) is characterized by an inability to control movement, which many times involved hyperactivity, irregular motor patterns, learning difficulties, vocal tics, and OCD. It is thought to be onset by a malfunctioning of the basal ganglia and other cortical circuitry, which leads to motor patterns being disorganized within the patient’s brain. This study aims to examine the motor activation of a TS individual through a functional MRI scan while performing voluntary movements. The researchers hypothesized that because TS is characterized by involuntary movements, they would find less activation in the Supplementary Motor Area (SMA), which normally would co-ordinate, prepare, and execute movements. In this study, the researchers …show more content…
The other independent variable was the 2 types of finger tapping tasks, usual and unusual, where the usual task involved tapping with the index finger, and tapping with the pinky finger for the unusual task (both with the right hand). In each type of motor task, the tapping speed was measured, which represents the dependant variable. Another dependant variable was the cortical activation within the patient’s brain, which was measured using an fMRI test. The results for the control patient showed, in the unusual task, increased premotor cortex activity (PMA) and SMA. This same activation was slightly different for the usual task, where the PMA was activated much more than the SMA. However, for the TS patient, the high PMA and SMA activation was seen for the usual and unusual tasks. The researchers also noticed that the TS patient showed no tics whatsoever when they were performing either of the tasks. Usually, more SMA activation is associated with increased difficulty of any particular task, when the subject has to actively think about performing the task. So, because the SMA was activated in the TS patient equally for the usual and unusual task, this could suggest that they have to put more effort into “usual” movements than
Rowland, Lewis P. (ed.): Merritt's Textbook of Neurology, eighth edition. Lea and Febiger. Philadelphia, 1959, pp. 630--631.
McNeil (1997), states that an individual with ataxic dysarthria will have “drunken speech” which results from the particular vulnerability of the cerebellum (p. 217). The cerebellum may account for only ten percent of the brain’s volume, but it contains over fifty percent of the total number of neurons in the brain, which means that any damage to it can affect an individual’s motor speech. The cerebellum is responsible for coordination of movement and the process of sensory information. According to Knierim (1997), the cerebellum coordinates the timing and force of muscular contractions so that any skilled or voluntary movements can be appropriate for an intended task. It also processes sensory information from all over the body and assimilates that information into the execution of a movement. Above all, the cerebellum does not initiate any motor commands; it only modifies the movements that are being commanded.
To understand the disease, you must know its interesting history. In 1885, the French physician, Dr. Georges Albert Eduoard Brutes Gilles de la Tourette, first suggested that the disease’s symptoms were part of a distinct condition different from other movement disorders. (Shimberg, 1995 p.25) Tourette studied several patients he believed to have the disorder. These studies included a French noblewoman who used to interject obscenities during conversation. (This is also known as coprolalia,) Tourette came to the conclusion that TS was hereditary, (Shimberg, 1995, P.67) that the disorder did not have any intellectual or psychological deterioration, (Shimberg, 1995, p.69) and he also correctly identified the childhood onset of the disease.
Tourette Syndrome, or TS, is an inherited, neurological disorder characterized by repeated involuntary body movement (tics) and uncontrollable vocal sounds. The cause of TS has not yet been established completely; however scientists do know it's inher
Kanske, P., Heissler, J., Schönfelder, S., Forneck, J., & Wessa, M. (2013). Neural correlates of
The frontal lobe comprises a third of the brain and it enables us to engage in higher cognitive functions such as planning and problem solving (Jonides & Smith, 1999). The frontal lobe is divided into 3 regions, the motor cortex, premotor cortex, and prefrontal cortex. The motor cortex is located in the precentral gyrus and directs fine motor coordination. The premotor cortex is involved in planning, organizing, and integrating body movements. The prefrontal is involved in executive functions, including short-term memory, working memory, decision making, and prioritizing behaviors (Wilson, 2003). Some of the frontal lobe disorders than can cause brain damage and behavioral changes are Huntington’s disease, infection, stroke, tourettes, dementia, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, tumors, closed head injury and traumatic brain injury (Chow, 2000).
The motor strip works with other motor areas such as the premotor cortex, the supplementary motor area, posterior parietal cortex, and several subcortical brain regions all to produce movements. The frontal lobe sends a signal to the motor strip, and before the person knows it, they’re drinking from a cup. Sending the signal successfully is in thanks to the corpus callosum. The corpus callosum sends nerves that connect and share information between the two hemispheres of the brain. Damage to these nerves results in things such as alien hand syndrome. This damage most often happens during brain aneurysms, in stroke patients and those with infections of the brain, but can also as a side effect of brain surgery, commonly after a radical procedure, often procedures that treat extreme cases of epilepsy. When the callosum is damaged in anyway, it leaves different sections of the brain disconnected and not able to communicate with the other half. With alien hand syndrome, one hand functions normally, carrying out wanted tasks without signaling the other hand, resulting in a hand that can act on its own, sometimes in dysfunctional and unwanted ways. The left hemisphere, which controls the right arm and leg, tends to be where language
The nervous system includes the brain and spinal cord of the central nervous system and the ganglia of the peripheral nervous system. The functional unit of the nervous system is a neuron. It is estimated 100 billion neurons reside in the brain with some neurons making anywhere between 10,000 to 100,000 connections with other cells! A distinctive class of neurons, mirror neurons discharge both when the individual executes a motor action and when he/she observes another individual performing that same or similar action. These mirror neurons were discovered by neurophysiologists in the 1990s at the University of Parma, Italy. Using macaque monkeys, these researchers found that neurons of the rostral part of the inferior premotor cortex were activated both when the monkey made goal-directed hand movements (grasping, holding, & tearing) and when the monkey observed specific hand movements done by the experimenters (Pellegrino, et al., 1992). In a monkey’s inferior frontal and inferior parietal cortex, it is estimated that about 10% of neurons have “mirror” properties.
Neurodevelopmental theory (NDT) informs clinical reasoning through the concepts of motor control, brain plasticity, motor learning and an understanding of functional human movement (Meadows & Williams, 2013). By identifying atypical movement patterns the therapist is able to select interventions, which will facilitate Sue in developing greater symmetry in her body and correct movement patterns. (Barthel, 2009; Feaver & Ezekiel, 2011). This influences the practice of interventions in NDT by applying moment-to-moment observations of Sue throughout treatment, in order to gage her reactions and adjusting interventions accordingly (Barthel, 2009). Barthel (2009) and Case-smith, Law, Missiuna, Pollock and Stewart (2010), defines NDT as a hand’s on approach to intervention, focusing on physically assisting Sue in the development of active and passive movement using key points of control during activities. This is used to facilitate Sue to engage in more normal movement patterns
Stuss and colleagues (2002) argue that clinical neuropsychology at its simplest is “the understanding of brain-behaviour links and their applications to clinical situations”. In their review of the history of clinical neuropsychology, they speak of three fields that have contributed to our current understanding of brain behaviour links including 1) behavioural neurology, 2) neuropsychiatry and 3) clinical neuropsychology. Within these disciplines, a range of techniques are used to investigate loca...
Neuropsychologists study brain behavior relationships under very specific circumstances which are both controlled and standardized. As a general rule, this means using tests which have been validated and which have been shown to have acceptable levels of sensitivity and specificity. This means the test can measure the thing it is trying to measure even when the thing it is trying to measure is only present in small amounts and it also means the test can distinguish the thing it is trying to measure from other things.
EEG, MEG and TMS are methods that have allowed the detection of motor neuron activation during the observation of actions performed by others and therefore mirror-like activity. Other techniques like positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), rely on recordings of variations in blood flow in various cerebral regions during performance and observation of given motor acts, and have made it possible to localize a mirror neuron system for action (Rizzolatti & Craighero, 2004; Sinigaglia & Sparaci, 2010). There is increasing evidence from neuroimaging studies that core components of a human mirror neuron syste...
Khalil, A., & Malik, S. (2013). Movement disorders and tremors. InnovAiT: The RCGP Journal for Associates in Training, 6(7), 416-424.
Sullivan, S. J., Hammond-Tooke, G. D., Schneiders, A. G., Gray, A. R., & McCrory, P. (2012). The diagnostic accuracy of selected neurological tests. Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, 19. 423-427. doi:10.1016/j.jocn.2011.09.011
...stingly, the same type of brain arousal takes place whether people actually do finger tapping or only imagine it.