The influence of dopaminergic striatal innervation on upper limb locomotor synergies

PLoS One. 2012;7(12):e51464. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051464. Epub 2012 Dec 7.

Abstract

To determine the role of striatal dopaminergic innervation on upper limb synergies during walking, we measured arm kinematics in 13 subjects with Parkinson disease. Patients were recruited according to several inclusion criteria to represent the best possible in vivo model of dopaminergic denervation. Of relevance, we included only subjects with normal spatio-temporal parameters of the stride and gait speed to avoid an impairment of upper limbs locomotor synergies as a consequence of gait impairment per se. Dopaminergic innervation of the striatum was measured by FP-CIT and SPECT. All patients showed a reduction of gait-associated arms movement. No linear correlation was found between arm ROM reduction and contralateral dopaminergic putaminal innervation loss. Still, a partition analysis revealed a 80% chance of reduced arm ROM when putaminal dopamine content loss was >47%. A significant correlation was described between the asymmetry indices of the swinging of the two arms and dopaminergic striatal innervation. When arm ROM was reduced, we found a positive correlation between upper-lower limb phase shift modulation (at different gait velocities) and striatal dopaminergic innervation. These findings are preliminary evidence that dopaminergic striatal tone plays a modulatory role in upper-limb locomotor synergies and upper-lower limb coupling while walking at different velocities.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Arm / physiology*
  • Biomechanical Phenomena
  • Corpus Striatum / metabolism*
  • Dopamine / metabolism*
  • Dopaminergic Neurons / metabolism
  • Dopaminergic Neurons / physiology*
  • Female
  • Gait / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Iodine Radioisotopes
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Parkinson Disease / physiopathology*
  • Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
  • Tropanes
  • Walking / physiology*

Substances

  • Iodine Radioisotopes
  • Tropanes
  • 2-carbomethoxy-8-(3-fluoropropyl)-3-(4-iodophenyl)tropane
  • Dopamine

Grants and funding

The study was supported by the Fondazione Grigioni per la malattia di Parkinson. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.