Mouth Motor Overflow in Parkinson's Disease

BACKGROUND: Motor overflow phenomenon has been described in a variety of neurodegenerative conditions. Often referred to in the literature as "mirror" movements, this phenomenon actually represents a motor overflow, typically involving the contralateral limbs. This phenomenon has not been previously characterized in the facial or jaw muscles. OBJECTIVES: We aim to describe the motor overflow phenomenon in orofacial muscles. METHODS: We examined videos of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) from our video library who were undergoing standard OFF and ON assessments for deep brain stimulation evaluation for any evidence of involuntary movements in the face or mouth. RESULTS: Of the evaluated patients, 32% showed evidence of mouth motor overflow movements upon activation by rapid sequential movements (RSM) in the limbs. CONCLUSION: In this study designed to systematically evaluate patients with PD for mouth motor overflow movements, we found that a third of the patients exhibited this phenomenon.