Electrophysiological and structural MRI correlates of dystonic head rotation in drug-naive patients with torticollis

Methods: Twenty-five consecutive drug-naive patients with cervical dystonia and 25 healthy controls underwent the simultaneous surface electromyographic (EMG) recording of sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle contractions during head/neck position changes, blink reflex recovery cycle (BRrc), DAT-SPECT, and advanced structural neuroimaging analysis using voxel-based morphometry (VBM).

Introduction: We tested whether a change in head/neck position initiates head deviation in drug-na ve patients with cervical dystonia and to identify the electrophysiological and neuroanatomical correlates of dystonic head rotation.