Cortical motor activation in akinetic schizophrenic patients: A pilot functional MRI study

✍ Scribed by Pierre Payoux; Kader Boulanouar; Christine Sarramon; Nelly Fabre; Sylvie Descombes; Monique Galitsky; Claire Thalamas; Christine Brefel-Courbon; Umberto Sabatini; Claude Manelfe; François Chollet; Laurent Schmitt; Olivier Rascol

• Book ID: 102507643
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2004
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 296 KB
• Volume: 19
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-3185
• DOI: 10.1002/mds.10598

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Akinesia is associated with supplementary motor area (SMA) dysfunction in Parkinson's disease. We looked for a similar association in patients with schizophrenia. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we compared motor activation in 6 akinetic neuroleptic‐treated schizophrenic patients and 6 normal subjects. Schizophrenic patients had a defective activation in the SMA, left primary sensorimotor cortex, bilateral lateral premotor and inferior parietal cortices, whereas the right primary sensorimotor cortex and a mesial frontal area were hyperactive. SMA was hypoactive in akinetic schizophrenic patients, emphasizing the role of this area in motor slowness. Other abnormal signals likely reflect schizophrenia‐related abnormal intracortical connections. © 2003 Movement Disorder Society