BACKGROUND Focal task specific dystonia occurs preferentially during performance of a specific task. There may be an inefficiently high grip force when doing manipulative tasks other than the trigger task, possibly reflecting a generalised impairment of sensory-motor integration. OBJECTIVE To examine how well subjects with writer's cramp (n = 4) or musician's cramp (n = 5) adapted their grip ...

OBJECTIVE To examine the utility of repetitive nerve stimulation (RNS) in the evaluation of peripheral nerve hyperexcitability (PNH). BACKGROUND PNH describes a group of disorders characterized by muscle cramps, twitching and stiffness. When severe, PNH may be characterized by the presence of continuous muscle fiber activity on routine needle electromyography (EMG). In milder forms of the dis...

Previous research has demonstrated a relationship between the regularity of motor production and the ability to make accurate perceptual judgments. The current study investigated the temporal abilities of two groups of patients with known movement problems (musicians' and writers' cramp), some of whom have had many years of training in temporal discrimination. Patients and controls (musician an...

Objective: The in ̄uence of muscle vibration (MV) as a strong proprioceptive input on motorcortical excitability was studied in 5 patients with musician's cramp, 5 musician controls and 5 non-musician controls. Methods: The relaxed ̄exor carpi radialis (FCR), involved in the dystonic movement in all patients, was vibrated using low frequency (80 Hz) and low amplitude (0.5 mm). Transcranial magne...

OBJECTIVES To determine whether acute exercise associated muscle cramping (EAMC) in distance runners is related to changes in serum electrolyte concentrations and hydration status. METHODS A cohort of 72 runners participating in an ultra-distance road race was followed up for the development of EAMC. All subjects were weighed before and immediately after the race. Blood samples were taken bef...

Cryptococcus neoformans is an important human opportunistic pathogen and a facultative intracellular parasite, particularly in HIV-infected individuals. Little is known about metal ion transport in this organism. C. neoformans encodes a single member of the Nramp (natural resistance-associated macrophage protein) family of bivalent cation transporters, known as Cramp, which we have cloned and e...

Mental rotation of body parts determines activation of cortical and subcortical systems involved in motor planning and execution, such as motor and premotor areas and basal ganglia. These structures are severely impaired in several movement disorders, including dystonia. Writer's cramp is the most common form of focal hand dystonia. This study investigates whether patients affected by writer's ...

OBJECTIVES To quantify the treatment effect of local botulinum toxin injections in writer's cramp a newly developed rating scale of writing performance and a computer assisted analysis of writing speed were used in 31 patients undergoing botulinum toxin therapy. METHODS Baseline data of the writer's cramp rating scale (WCRS, see appendix) and computer based writing speed analysis were compare...

Auto-immunity is believed to contribute to inflammation in atherosclerosis. The antimicrobial peptide LL-37, a fragment of the cathelicidin protein precursor hCAP18, was previously identified as an autoantigen in psoriasis. Given the reported link between psoriasis and coronary artery disease, the biological relevance of the autoantigen to atherosclerosis was tested in vitro using a truncated (...