Normal or enhanced short‐latency afferent inhibition in Parkinson’s disease?

Sailer and colleagues (2003) evaluated short‐ and long‐latency afferent inhibition in patients with Parkinson’s disease. They reported that short‐latency afferent inhibition (SAI) is normal in Parkinson’s disease off dopaminergic medication, but that it is reduced in the more affected side in Parkinson’s disease on medication. Figure 2 of the paper mentioned above shows a tendency to more pronounced SAI in the more affected side of Parkinson’s disease patients than in control subjects and that this tendency is reversed by l‐dopa administration. Therefore, a different possible explanation of their findings is that SAI is pathologically increased in Parkinson’s disease patients and that l‐dopa administration restores it.To evaluate whether there is pathologically increased SAI in Parkinson’s disease, we studied three patients with a pure hemiparkinsonian syndrome [mean age 67.3 ± 9.1 (SD) years; mean Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale III motor score of the affected side …