Health
Writer's cramp may have its root in brain abnormalities
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted April 27, 2009
Problems with the fibers connecting parts of the brain may lead to writer's cramp and other movement disorders, according to a study in the April Archives of Neurology.
Researchers at the Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire Roger Salengro in Lille, France, and the Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale in Paris compared images of the brains of 26 people who experienced writer's cramp with 26 healthy controls.
Diffusion tensor imaging revealed that those with writer's cramp have differences in the cords linking sensorimotor and subcortical structures of the brain. The authors concluded it's unclear how these aberrations play a role in this disorder and additional studies are needed to understand their part in writer's cramp and other dystonias.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/04/27/hlbf0427.htm.
