These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Spasticity: the misunderstood part of the upper motor neuron syndrome.
    Author: Ivanhoe CB, Reistetter TA.
    Journal: Am J Phys Med Rehabil; 2004 Oct; 83(10 Suppl):S3-9. PubMed ID: 15448572.
    Abstract:
    Spasticity is a sensorimotor phenomenon related to the integration of the nervous system motor responses to sensory input. Although most commonly considered a velocity-dependent increase to tonic stretch, it is related to hypersensitivity of the reflex arc and changes that occur within the central nervous system, most notably, the spinal cord. Injury to the central nervous system results in loss of descending inhibition, allowing for the clinical manifestation of abnormal impulses. Muscle activity becomes overactive. This is mediated at several areas of the stretch-reflex pathway. Although spasticity is part of the upper motor neuron syndrome, it is frequently tied to the other presentations of the said syndrome. Contracture, hypertonia, weakness, and movement disorders can all coexist as a result of the upper motor neuron syndrome. Although basic science descriptions of spasticity are being elucidated, clinically, confusion exists.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]