Antonio
Giorgio1, Emilio Portaccio2, Maria Laura Stromillo3,
Silvia Marino3, Valentina Zipoli2, Gianfranco Siracusa2,
Marco Battaglini3, Maria Letizia Bartolozzi4, Anita
Blandino3, Leonello Guidi4, Sandro Sorbi2,
Antonio Federico3, Maria Pia Amato2, Nicola De Stefano3
1Neurology and Neurometabolic Unit,
Dept. of Neurological and Behavioral Sciences, Siena University , Siena,
Italy; 2Dept. of Neurology, University of Florence, Italy; 3Neurology
and Neurometabolic Unit, Dept. of Neurological and Behavioral Sciences, Siena
University, Siena, Italy; 4Neurology Unit, Hospital of Empoli,
Italy
It
is not currently known whether the favorable clinical status present several
years after disease onset in Benign Multiple Sclerosis (B-MS) might be due to
the presence of a more efficient functional cortical reorganisation. In 25
right-handed patients with B-MS, different bilateral brain areas, not only
those devoted to motor tasks, were recruited during a simple motor task. This
widespread functional cortical reorganisation appeared directly related to
the integrity of normal appearing brain tissues and inversely associated with
focal WM pathology and progressive brain volume loss.