Changes in cortical and subcortical motor activity in early ALS studied with fMRI

Objective: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder of upper and lower motor neurons. The neurodegenerative process is already advanced before muscle weakness and wasting occurs. In this study we investigated the motor activations using fMRI with a focus on unaffected limbs. Methods: We studied 20 ALS-patients and 22 healthy age-matched controls, using BOLD-fMRI, while they performed an acoustically paced motor task. Imaging was performed in a 3T system. fMRI data were analyzed with Brain Voyager QX. Results: Task-related functional activations were identified in motor cortical regions…