Alteration of digital representations in somatosensory cortex in focal hand dystonia

FOCAL hand dystonia involves a loss of motor control of one or more digits; it is associated with the repetitive, synchronous movements of the digits made by musicians over periods of many years. Magnetic source imaging revealed that there is a smaller distance (fusion) between the representations of the digits in somatosensory cortex for the affected hand of dystonic musicians than for the hands of non-musician control subjects. The data suggest that use-dependent susceptibility to digital representation fusion in cortex may be involved in the etiology of focal dystonia. A successful therapy for the condition has been developed based on this consideration. NeuroReport 9: 3571-3575 (C) 1998 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.