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Neurology 2002;59:449-451
© 2002 American Academy of Neurology
Brief Communications

Increased brainstem excitability in stiff-person syndrome

F. M. Molloy, MD, M. C. Dalakas, MD and M. K. Floeter, MD, PhD

From the Electromyography Section (Drs. Molloy and Floeter) and Neuromuscular Diseases Section (Dr. Dalakas), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH, Bethesda, MD.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Mary Kay Floeter, NIH, NINDS, Building 10, Rm. 5C101, 10 Center Drive, MSC 1428, Bethesda, MD 20892-1428; e-mail: floeter{at}codon.nih.gov

The recovery cycle of the R2 component of the blink reflex was studied in five patients with stiff-person syndrome (SPS) and in seven healthy control subjects. R2 recovery was enhanced in patients with SPS. This result is suggestive of hyperexcitability of brainstem interneuronal circuits in SPS. Hyperexcitability may result from abnormal input from suprasegmental structures or loss of inhibition by interneurons and is compatible with the proposal that there is a widespread dysfunction of central inhibitory mechanisms in SPS.




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