Neuralgic amyotrophy is a common peripheral nerve disorder caused by acute autoimmune inflammation of the brachial plexus. Subsequent weakness of the stabilizing shoulder muscles leads to compensatory strategies and abnormal motor control of the shoulder. Despite recovery of peripheral nerves and muscle strength over time, motor dysfunction often persists. Suboptimal motor recovery has been linked to maladaptive changes in the central motor system in several nervous system disorders. We therefore hypothesized that neuralgic amyotrophy patients with persistent motor dysfunction may have altered cerebral sensorimotor representations of the affected upper limb. To test this hypothesis, 21 neuralgic amyotrophy patients (mean age 45 ± 12 years, 5 female) with persistent lateralized symptoms in the right upper limb and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy controls, all right-handed, performed a hand laterality judgement task in a cross-sectional comparison. Previous evidence has shown that to solve this task, subjects rely on sensorimotor representations of their own upper limb, using a first-person imagery perspective without actual motor execution. This enabled us to investigate altered central sensorimotor representations while controlling for altered motor output and altered somatosensory afference. We found that neuralgic amyotrophy patients were specifically less accurate for laterality judgments of their affected right limb, as compared to healthy controls. There were no significant group differences in reaction times. Both groups used a first-person imagery perspective, as evidenced by changes in reaction times as a function of participants' own arm posture. We conclude that cerebral sensorimotor representations of the affected upper limb are altered in neuralgic amyotrophy patients. This suggests that maladaptive central neuroplasticity may occur in response to peripheral nerve damage, thereby contributing to motor dysfunction. Therapies focused on altering cerebral sensorimotor representations may help to treat peripheral nerve disorders such as neuralgic amyotrophy.

中文翻译：

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神经性肌萎缩症患者周围神经损伤恢复后感觉运动表现的改变。

神经性肌萎缩是由臂丛神经的急性自身免疫炎症引起的常见周围神经疾病。随后稳定的肩部肌肉无力导致补偿策略和肩部运动控制异常。尽管随着时间的推移，周围神经和肌肉力量会恢复，但运动功能障碍通常仍会持续。在几种神经系统疾病中，运动恢复欠佳与中枢运动系统适应不良的改变有关。因此，我们假设患有持续性运动功能障碍的神经性肌萎缩患者可能已经改变了受影响上肢的脑感觉运动表现。为了验证这一假设，我们对21名神经质性肌萎缩症患者（平均年龄45±12岁，5位女性）在右上肢持续出现偏侧症状，以及20位年龄和性别相匹配的健康对照组（均为右手），在横断面比较中执行了手偏侧性判断任务。先前的证据表明，要解决此任务，受试者需要使用第一人称图像视角来依靠自己上肢的感觉运动表征，而无需实际执行运动。这使我们能够研究变化的中央感觉运动表现，同时控制变化的运动输出和变化的体感影响。我们发现，与健康对照组相比，神经质性肌萎缩症患者对受影响的右肢的侧倾判断准确性特别低。在反应时间上没有显着的组差异。两组都使用第一人称图像角度，如反应时间随参与者自己的手臂姿势而变化所证明。我们得出结论，在神经性肌萎缩症患者中，受影响的上肢的脑感觉运动表现有所改变。这表明响应周围神经损伤可能发生适应不良的中枢神经可塑性，从而导致运动功能障碍。专注于改变大脑感觉运动表现的疗法可能有助于治疗周围神经疾病，例如神经性肌萎缩症。从而导致运动功能障碍。专注于改变大脑感觉运动表现的疗法可能有助于治疗周围神经疾病，例如神经性肌萎缩症。从而导致运动功能障碍。专注于改变大脑感觉运动表现的疗法可能有助于治疗周围神经疾病，例如神经性肌萎缩症。