Neurophysiological Evaluation of Muscle Tone

In the researchers' words

The primary objective of this study is to apply a biomechanical system (the NeuroFlexor) associated with the EMG recording to study the physiological mechanisms that contribute to the regulation of muscle tone in healthy subjects and in patients with increased muscle tone. A second fundamental objective of this study is to monitor over time the changes in muscle tone that can be found physiologically in healthy subjects and pathologically in patients with spasticy and/or rigidity. A further objective of this study is the quantitative evaluation of the symptomatic effects of specific therapies in improving the impaired muscle tone. Clinical evaluation In this research project the investigators will recruit 20 patients with upper limb spasticity (regardless of the underlying disease responsible for the spasticity), 20 patients with Parkinson's disease characterized by stiffness of the upper limbs and 20 healthy control subjects. Patients will be recruited from the IRCCS Neuromed Institute, Pozzilli (IS). Participants will give their written informed consent to the study, which will be approved by the institutional ethics committee of the IRCCS Neuromed Institute, in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. All participants will be right-handed according to the Edinburgh handedness inventory (EDI) (Oldfield, 1971). Parkinson's disease will be diagnosed in accordance with the…