Reduced Occipital Cortex Excitability in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Purpose: In addition to motor cortex involvement, sensory abnormalities have been demonstrated in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), including structural and metabolic alterations in the occipital cortex. The aim of this study was to examine occipital excitability changes in ALS.

Methods: Twenty-one patients with ALS and 16 healthy subjects were enrolled into the study.

Impaired short- and long-latency afferent inhibition in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Introduction: To test the hypothesis of impaired cholinergic activity in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), we studied short- and long-latency afferent inhibition (SAI and LAI).

Methods: The ulnar nerve was stimulated at the wrist preceding transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), 21 ms for SAI and 200 ms for LAI, in 21 patients and 17 control subjects. Short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) and cognitive function was assessed in ALS patients using automatic threshold tracking and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).