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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 98/6/3696    most recent 00594.2007v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Chang, E. F. Articles by Starr, P. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Chang, E. F. Articles by Starr, P. A.

Neuronal Responses to Passive Movement in the Globus Pallidus Internus in Primary Dystonia

¹Departments of Neurological Surgery and ²Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, California; and ³Department of Neurobiology and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Submitted 25 May 2007; accepted in final form 14 October 2007

Abnormal sensory processing has been implicated in the pathophysiology of primary dystonia. In the globus pallidus internus (GPi), the primary output structure of the basal ganglia, many neurons respond to sensory (proprioceptive) stimulation. Here we have characterized GPi neuronal responses to passive movement of the contralateral limbs in 22 patients with primary dystonia undergoing microelectrode recording for placement of deep brain stimulator leads. We plotted coordinates of cells responding to limb movement in a common space. We observed distinct representations of leg and arm movement localized to the dorsal and ventral part of the posterior GPi, respectively. Comparing patients with generalized dystonia versus patients with segmental craniocervical dystonia, there was no difference in the volumes or separations of leg and arm related territories. In contrast to parkinsonism, only a small minority of units were responsive to movement across multiple joints. Abnormally increased directional selectivity was found in units responding to dystonic limbs compared with nondystonic limbs. Some affected GPi neurons therefore appear to have altered proprioceptive tuning for movement direction. There is an apparent preservation of GPi somatotopic organization in dystonia in comparison with prior studies of GPi somatotopic organization in non-human primates and humans with Parkinson's disease.