The role of the cerebellum in the pathogenesis of essential tremor

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Sohag university hospital

2 Department of Neurology, Sohag University

3 Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Sohag University.

4 Department of neurology, Sohag university

Abstract

Abnormal activity in a neuronal network in which the cerebellum is included, is coherent with continuous tremor oscillation. Within the cortico-olivo-cerebello-thalamic circuit, the inferior olive could be an oscillator by having pacemaker properties. Despite that, the olivary pacemaker hypothesis faces many contradicting findings against the concept of a single oscillator. The attention have changed from the interactions between the elements and structures of the neural network in which the oscillators are contained to concentrate on its features. These features include the connections intensity and direction. Deficiency in glutamatergic system in ET may be a better explanation for abnormal cerebellar function in ET. A reduction in dentate GABA receptor levels could be a basic defect in this disease. This may explained by the reduced production of GABA from Purkinje cells at the postsynaptic neurons. This results in the release of deep cerebellar nuclei from previous inhibition. The correlation between genetic abnormalities and cerebellar dysfunction may explain this in the future.

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