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Publications

Journal Article Ahead of print

PubMed: 42892408 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2026.10.025

Investigating fatigability and cortical activation during prolonged foot tapping in multiple sclerosis.

Neuroscience

Authors: Zuhal Abasiyanik, Lousin Moumdjian, Natalia Skorupa, Daphne Kos, Bart van Wijmeersch, Miguel D'Haeseleer, Inge Zijdewind, Peter Feys, Felipe Balistieri Santinelli

Affiliations

  • REVAL Rehabilitation Research Center, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium; University Multiple Sclerosis Center (UMSC), Belgium.
  • REVAL Rehabilitation Research Center, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium; University Multiple Sclerosis Center (UMSC), Belgium; Laboratory of Functional Anatomy, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium; Laboratoire de Neuroanatomie et Neuroimagerie Translationnelles, UNI - ULB, Belgium.
  • Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Hasselt University, Belgium.
  • National MS Center, Melsbroek, Belgium; KU Leuven, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Leuven, Belgium.
  • REVAL Rehabilitation Research Center, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium; University Multiple Sclerosis Center (UMSC), Belgium; Noorderhart Rehabilitation & Multiple Sclerosis Centre, Belgium.
  • National MS Center, Melsbroek, Belgium; Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Department Neuroprotection & Neuromodulation (NEUR), Center for Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Brussels, Belgium,; University Hospital Brussels, Department of Neurology, Brussels, Belgium.
  • University Medical Center, University of Groningen, Biomedical Science, Groningen , the Netherlands.
  • REVAL Rehabilitation Research Center, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium; University Multiple Sclerosis Center (UMSC), Belgium.

Abstract

People with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) often exhibit motor fatigability and reduced foot-tapping ability. However, the coupling between performance and cortical activity during fast, repetitive and prolonged ankle movements remains unexplored. We aimed to investigate the neural correlates of a prolonged foot-tap task (FTT) in pwMS and healthy controls (HC). Thirty-nine pwMS (EDSS 4[3.5], 55[14] years) and 18 HC (54.5[9.75) years) performed one 1-minute FTT for each foot. Wearable sensors and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) quantified motor performance and cortical activity, respectively. fNIRS covered bilaterally frontopolar, dorsolateral prefrontal, primary motor (M1) and supplementary motor area cortices. Data were segmented into 10-second intervals and analysed via two-way ANOVA (group × time). Spearman's correlations evaluated associations between changes in cortical activity and performance (6th vs 1st segment). PwMS showed worse FTT performance with lower DLPFC activation compared to HC. On the other hand, comparable FTT performance decline over time were observed in both pwMS and HC. Cortical activity increased in SMA in HC (6 vs 2-3 intervals), but not in pwMS. In HC's, increased cortical activity across all cortical regions in the 6th interval was positive and moderately associated with less worsening in tapping performance. On the other hand, increased M1 activity was weakly associated with less foot tapping in pwMS. PwMS exhibited reduced foot-tap performance, accompanied by reduced DLPFC activation. While increased cortical activity leads to better performance in HC (i.e., a neural compensatory strategy), in pwMS increased activity was associated with worse performance (i.e., neural inefficiency).

MeSH

Sclerosis, Multiple Sclerosis, Foot, Neurology