Study for the Parkinson’s Disease Exam. Engage with detailed flashcards and multiple-choice questions, each offering hints and explanations. Prepare effectively for your exam!

Multiple Choice

What term describes rapid, continuous twitching of resting muscle without movement?

Fasciculation is spontaneous, brief twitches of the muscle fibers within a motor unit that occur when the muscle is at rest. These twitches are visible under the skin as a fine, rapid ripple but do not cause actual movement of the limb because they are small and unsynchronized. This distinguishes fasciculations from other movement problems: dystonia involves sustained or repetitive muscle contractions that produce abnormal postures; athetosis features slow, writhing movements; chorea consists of quick, irregular jerks that flow from one muscle group to another. There’s also fibrillation, a related but subtler phenomenon detected by EMG, where individual muscle fibers contract spontaneously and are not visible clinically. So the description of rapid, continuous twitching of a resting muscle without movement best fits fasciculations.

Fasciculation is spontaneous, brief twitches of the muscle fibers within a motor unit that occur when the muscle is at rest. These twitches are visible under the skin as a fine, rapid ripple but do not cause actual movement of the limb because they are small and unsynchronized. This distinguishes fasciculations from other movement problems: dystonia involves sustained or repetitive muscle contractions that produce abnormal postures; athetosis features slow, writhing movements; chorea consists of quick, irregular jerks that flow from one muscle group to another. There’s also fibrillation, a related but subtler phenomenon detected by EMG, where individual muscle fibers contract spontaneously and are not visible clinically. So the description of rapid, continuous twitching of a resting muscle without movement best fits fasciculations.