This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Brown, L N Articles by Metz, L M Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Brown, L N Articles by Metz, L M Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Tactile temporal thresholds detect relapse-related changes in multiple sclerosis: a preliminary study

Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada, lnbrown{at}ucalgary.ca

L M Metz

Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada

Background: Tactile temporal thresholds, which represent the time separating the onset of two tactile stimuli when they are judged as simultaneous, can differentiate a group of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) from normal controls. Demyelination, axonal injury and loss, and altered information processing all occur in MS and may cause these increased thresholds. Thus, tactile temporal thresholds may be a useful outcome measure in MS. Our objective was to assess whether tactile temporal thresholds reflect change during a MS relapse. Methods: During a study to evaluate the stability of tactile temporal thresholds in people with MS, two participants suffered relapses. Both events were associated with prolonged thresholds (i.e., significantly increased thresholds). Conclusions: Tactile temporal thresholds can detect neurologic worsening and thus warrant further evaluation as a useful method to facilitate in the monitoring of disease change in people with MS.

Key Words: multiple sclerosis • outcome measure • psychophysics • sensory discrimination • tactile • temporal processing

Multiple Sclerosis, Vol. 11, No. 6, 725-727 (2005)
DOI: 10.1191/1352458505ms1219sr


CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L N Brown, L M Metz, and M Eliasziw Identifying reliable change in tactile temporal thresholds in multiple sclerosis: test-retest reliability Multiple Sclerosis, September 1, 2006; 12(5): 573 - 577. [Abstract] [PDF]