AVANZINO , Laura

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Dystonia has historically been considered a disorder of the basal ganglia, mainly affecting planning and execution of voluntary movements. This notion comes from the observation that most lesions responsible for secondary dystonia involve the basal ganglia. However, what emerges from recent research is that dystonia is linked to the dysfunction...

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Objective: To investigate the possible correlations between clinico-radiological features and pathophysiological mechanisms in patients with dystonia secondary to focal brain lesions. Methods: Single and paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation was used to assess corticospinal excitability in 10 patients (4 females; mean age 61) and a...

Motor performance recovery after a demanding finger motor task does not follow the excitability dynamics of primary motor cortex (M1), which remains depressed also when performance is restored. Thus, other neural circuits are supposed to cope with central fatigue, re-establishing adequate motor performance levels. A hint that the basal ganglia...

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Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by a progressive impairment of motor skills with deterioration of autonomy in daily living activities. Physiotherapy is regarded as an adjuvant to pharmacological and neurosurgical treatment and may provide small and short-lasting clinical benefits in PD patients. However, the development of innovative...

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In the human brain, homologous regions of the primary motor cortices (M1s) are connected through transcallosal fibers. Interhemispheric communication between the two M1s plays a major role in the control of unimanual hand movements, and the strength of this connection seems to be dependent on arm activity. For instance, a lesion in the M1 can...

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Traditional definitions of focal dystonia point to its motor component, mainly affecting planning and execution of voluntary movements. However, focal dystonia is tightly linked also to sensory dysfunction. Accurate motor control requires an optimal processing of afferent inputs from different sensory systems, in particular visual and...

The present study tested whether and how motor experience with a specific tool affects motor representation of a specific movement. To this aim, we considered a group of expert tennis players and a control group of athletic individuals without tennis experience. Participants were asked to execute 20 single forehands into the wall with a tennis...

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