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. 1973 Apr;36(2):183–193. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.36.2.183

Functional changes in motoneurones of hemiparetic patients

A J McComas 1,2, R E P Sica 1,2, A R M Upton 1,2, N Aguilera 1,2
PMCID: PMC1083552  PMID: 4350702

Abstract

Forty-six patients have been studied after upper motor neurone lesions of cerebrovascular origin. The numbers of functioning motor units in extensor digitorum brevis muscles were reduced to approximately half between the second and sixth months after a hemiplegic episode. The surviving motor units tended to have slow twitches and appeared to increase their sizes after the lesions had been present for about 20 months. The findings are explained on the basis of transsynaptic changes in alpha-motoneurones after degeneration of corticospinal fibres.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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