TY - JOUR T1 - Excitability of the motor cortex to magnetic stimulation in patients with cerebellar lesions. JF - Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry JO - J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry SP - 108 LP - 110 DO - 10.1136/jnnp.57.1.108 VL - 57 IS - 1 AU - V Di Lazzaro AU - D Restuccia AU - M Molinari AU - M G Leggio AU - R Nardone AU - D Fogli AU - P Tonali Y1 - 1994/01/01 UR - http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/57/1/108.abstract N2 - The excitability of the motor cortex to magnetic stimulation was evaluated in seven patients with cerebellar lesions (six patients with a unilateral lesion) and in 20 control subjects. Magnetic motor threshold was defined at rest. In all but one of the patients with a hemicerebellar lesion the threshold was higher in the motor cortex contralateral to the impaired hemicerebellum and the right/left threshold asymmetry was clearly greater than normal. In the patient with a lesion involving both cerebellar hemispheres the magnetic threshold was above the normal limit on both sides. The latencies of motor responses were normal in all patients. This increase in the magnetic threshold of the motor cortex functionally related to the impaired hemicerebellum suggests the existence of a facilitating tonic action of the cerebellum on central motor circuits that might act at the cortical, or spinal level, or both. ER -