Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30239158›Full record

ArticleBrain and behavior2018

Impaired white matter integrity between premotor cortex and basal ganglia in writer's cramp.

Maria Berndt, Yong Li, Gina Gora-Stahlberg, Angela Jochim, Bernhard Haslinger

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Brain and behavior, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 21% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Brain network pathophysiology in dystonia.Dystonia (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025
    Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Maria BerndtDepartment of Neurology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität Muenchen, Muenchen, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-9124-231X
Yong LiDepartment of Neurology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität Muenchen, Muenchen, Germany.
Gina Gora-StahlbergDepartment of Neurology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität Muenchen, Muenchen, Germany.
Angela JochimDepartment of Neurology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität Muenchen, Muenchen, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-9721-6657
Bernhard HaslingerDepartment of Neurology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität Muenchen, Muenchen, Germany.
TUM Klinikum · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionWriter's cramp (WC) as a focal hand dystonia is characterized by abnormal postures of the hand during writing. Impaired inhibition and maladaptive plasticity in circuits linking the basal ganglia and sensorimotor cortices have been described. In particular, a dysfunction of lateral premotor cortices has been associated with impaired motor control in WC. We applied diffusion tensor imaging to identify changes in white matter connectivity between premotor regions and important cortical and subcortical structures.

methodsWhole brain white matter tracts were reconstructed in 18 right-handed WC patients and 18 matched controls, using probabilistic fiber tracking. We restricted our analyses to left-hemispheric fibers between the middle frontal gyrus (MFG) and basal ganglia, thalamus, primary motor, and sensory cortex. Diffusion parameters (fractional anisotropy and linear anisotropy) were compared between both groups.

resultsA significant reduction in fractional anisotropy values was shown for patients (mean ± SD: 0.37 ± 0.02) vs. controls (0.39 ± 0.03) regarding fibers between the left-sided MFG and the putamen (p < 0.05). The same applied for linear anisotropy values in this connection (p < 0.05).

conclusionsOur results suggest an impaired structural connectivity between the left-hemispheric MFG and putamen with a loss of equally aligned fibers in WC patients. This could reflect a structural basis for functional findings interpreted as altered inhibition and plasticity, both within the premotor cortex and the basal ganglia, that at last lead to the clinical symptoms of WC.

Indexed as

AdultAgedAnisotropyBasal GangliaDiffusion Tensor ImagingDystonic DisordersFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedMotor CortexNeural PathwaysWhite Matterdiffusion tensor imagingdystoniafiber trackingWriter’s cramp

Identifiers

PMID30239158
PMCPMC6192408
OpenAlexW2893969760

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.