• Mamede de Carvalho, Antonia Turkman, and Michael Swash.
• Instituto de Fisiologia, Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal.
• Muscle Nerve. 2019 Jun 1; 59 (6): 688-693.

IntroductionFasciculations are a marker for the diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and reflect increased lower motor neuron (LMN) excitability.MethodsWe investigated modulation of fasciculation frequency in the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle of the right hand following peripheral sensory nerve electrical stimulation, and vibration over the muscle-tendon region (50 and 100 Hz), in patients with ALS, spinal muscular atrophy, and benign fasciculation syndrome. FDI muscles of ALS patients were classified by the presence or absence of neurogenic changes on needle electromyography.ResultsBoth sensory nerve electrical stimulation and vibration significantly increased the frequency of fasciculations in neurogenic FDI muscles of ALS patients, but not in the remaining groups.DiscussionOur results favour increased excitability of LMNs when affected by the disease process in ALS. We found that some fasciculations originating in these neurons in ALS are susceptible to modulation by sensory input. Muscle Nerve 59:688-693, 2019.© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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