Objective: Study functional changes within a network that mediates recognition of facial expressions in patients with cervical dystonia by MRI.

Background: Cervical dystonia (CD) is a rare hyperkinetic disorder characterised by abnormal, repetitive, twisting movements affecting the cervical neck muscles. It is the most common phenotype of the adult onset idiopathic focal dystonias. CD has a range of motor and non-motor symptoms. Recently, we demonstrated that patients with CD have abnormalities in social cognition. This has the potential to greatly impact on quality of life in this disorder and raises interesting pathophysiological questions. The superior colliculus, amygdala and pulvinar network mediates aspects of social cognition and may demonstrate changes in patients with CD.

Method: A functional MRI task was designed using happy and disgust facial expressions. Participants were scanned while viewing changing facial expressions using an oddball paradigm. Patients also had TWSTRS2-severity and mood measurements.

Results: 8 patients with cervical dystonia and 8 healthy volunteers participated in the study. Patients had mild to moderate disease severity. Results suggest changes within functional and resting state networks in patients with cervical dystonia and control subjects. Mood scores did not impact outcomes.

Conclusion: The network involving the superior colliculus, amygdala and pulvinar nuclei showed functional changes in patients with CD. This network could mediate the motor and non-motor symptoms, including facial expression recognition, in CD. Targeting non-motor symptoms could improve quality of life in this disorder. Larger functional MRI studies into this network could help develop mechanistic models in a condition that has to date, remained elusive.

« Back to 2023 International Congress

MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/social-cognition-in-cervical-dystonia-an-fmri-study/