Enhanced catecholamine transporter binding in the locus coeruleus of patients with early Parkinson disease.

Background: Studies in animals suggest that the noradrenergic system arising from the locus coeruleus (LC) and dopaminergic pathways mutually influence each other. Little is known however, about the functional state of the LC in patients with Parkinson disease (PD).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed clinical and imaging data of 94 subjects with PD at an early clinical stage (Hoehn and Yahr stage 1-2) who underwent single photon computed tomography imaging with FP-CIT ([¹²³I] N-ω-fluoropropyl-2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-iodophenyl) tropane).

Dynamics of the ankle joint analyzed through moment-angle loops during human walking: gender and age effects.

Aim of this study was to provide a non-invasive assessment of the dynamic properties of the ankle joint during human locomotion, with specific focus on the effects of gender and age. Accordingly, flexion-extension angles and moments, obtained through gait analysis, were used to generate moment-angle loops at the ankle joint in 120 healthy subjects walking at a same normalized speed. Four reproducible types of loops were identified: Typical Loops, Narrow, Large and Yielding loops.

Coordination between upper- and lower-limb movements is different during overground and treadmill walking.

Locomotion studies employ either treadmill (TW) or overground walking (OW), considering that differences between them are negligible. The present study tests this notion by comparing coordination between upper- and lower-limb movements in healthy individuals during OW and TW at matched speeds. Results indicated that TW induced a higher cadence, which highly influenced interlimb coordination, in terms of frequency coupling and relative phase between arm and thigh motion.

Multichannel SEMG in clinical gait analysis: a review and state-of-the-art.

Background: Application of surface electromyography (SEMG) to the clinical evaluation of neuromuscular disorders can provide relevant "diagnostic" contributions in terms of nosological classification, localization of focal impairments, detection of pathophysiological mechanisms, and functional assessment.

Methods: The present review article elaborates on: (i) the technical aspects of the myoelectric signals acquisition within a protocol of clinical gait analysis (multichannel recording, surface vs. deep probes, electrode placing, encumbrance effects), (ii) the sequence of procedures for the subsequent data processing (filtering, averaging, normalization, repeatability control), and (iii) a set of feasible strategies for the final extraction of clinically useful information.

Influence of basal ganglia on upper limb locomotor synergies. Evidence from deep brain stimulation and L-DOPA treatment in Parkinson's disease.

Clinical evidence of impaired arm swing while walking in patients with Parkinson's disease suggests that basal ganglia and related systems play an important part in the control of upper limb locomotor automatism. To gain more information on this supraspinal influence, we measured arm and thigh kinematics during walking in 10 Parkinson's disease patients, under four conditions: (i) baseline (no treatment), (ii) therapeutic stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN), (iii)L-DOPA medication and (iv) combined STN stimulation and L-DOPA. Ten age-matched controls provided reference data.