Comparing MRCP of healthy subjects with that of ALS patients

Abstract

The study compared the movement related cortical potential (MRCP) of healthy subjects with that of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. We applied the same experimental and analytical methods to 7 healthy subjects and 4 ALS patients. They were asked to imagine right wrist extension at two speeds (fast and slow). The peak negativity and rebound rate were extracted from MRCP. Significance test showed that the healthy presented higher peak negativity during fast movement imagination than ALS. In addition, the healthy showed stronger rebound rate than ALS during both fast and slow movement imagination. Weak rebound rate might reflect the impairment of motor output pathway. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.