The cortical GABAergic inhibitory system in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: an in situ hybridisation study

Recent pathological, neuropsychological and functional imaging studies have challenged the view that amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a disorder restricted to the motor system. The majority of pathological studies have been limited to the motor and premotor areas that are known to be affected in ALS and have not examined other cortical areas systematically. There is evidence that excitotoxic cell death is involved in the degenerative process of the nervous system of ALS patients and that ligand-gated receptor channels play a role in the pathogenesis of the disease. Several electrophysical and anatomical st…