Sensory Gating during Voluntary Finger Movement in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis with Sensory Cortex Hyperexcitability

Cortical responses in somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) are enhanced in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This study investigated whether sensory gating is involved in the pathophysiology of sensory cortical hyperactivity in ALS patients. The median nerve SEP was recorded at rest and during voluntary finger movements in 14 ALS patients and 13 healthy control subjects. The parietal N20, P25, and frontal N30 were analyzed, and sensory gating was assessed by measuring the amplitude of each component during finger movement. The amplitudes of the N20 onset–peak, N20 peak–P25 peak, and N30 onset–peak were higher in ALS patients than in controls. Nonetheless, there were no significant differences in the amplitude reduction ratio of SEPs between patients and controls. There was a significant correlation between the baseline amplitudes of the N20 onset–peak or N20 peak–P25 peak and their gating ratios in patients with ALS. Our findings indicate that the excitability of the primary sensory cortex and secondary motor cortex is enhanced in ALS, while sensory gating is preserved in the early stages of ALS. This result suggests that enhanced SEP is caused by the hyperexcitability of the primary sensory and secondary motor cortices but not by the dysfunction of inhibitory mechanisms during voluntary movements.