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Related Concept Videos

Alterations in Muscle Tone lll01:11

Alterations in Muscle Tone lll

Rigidity and myotonia are distinct abnormalities of muscle tone that affect resistance and relaxation during movement. Although both involve altered muscle contraction, they arise from different neurological and muscular mechanisms.CharacteristicsRigidity is characterized by uniform resistance to passive movement across the entire range, independent of speed, affecting flexors and extensors equally. It may appear as lead-pipe rigidity (smooth, constant resistance) or cogwheel rigidity...
Motor Unit Stimulation01:20

Motor Unit Stimulation

When the neuron of a motor unit fires an action potential, it triggers a series of events, leading to a twitch contraction in the muscle fibers. The process of excitation-contraction coupling is crucial in relaying the action potential to the muscle fibers.
The latent period of contraction marks the onset of excitation-contraction coupling, when the action potential propagates across the sarcolemma, preparing the muscle fibers for contraction. As the fibers enter the contraction phase, the...
Hierarchy of Motor Control01:18

Hierarchy of Motor Control

The hierarchy of motor control refers to the different levels of organization and processing involved in controlling movement in the body. These levels range from higher cortical areas involved in planning and decision-making to lower spinal cord reflexes that respond automatically to external stimuli.
Alterations in Muscle Tone ll01:12

Alterations in Muscle Tone ll

Alterations in muscle tone are common manifestations of neurological disorders and reflect dysfunction within different nervous system regions. Spasticity, paratonia, and dystonia represent distinct forms of hypertonia, each with unique mechanisms, clinical features, and diagnostic importance.CharacteristicsSpasticity happens from upper motor neuron lesions and is characterized by velocity-dependent resistance to passive movement. Clinical features include:Exaggerated deep tendon reflexesClonus...
Indirect Motor Pathways01:22

Indirect Motor Pathways

The indirect motor or extrapyramidal pathways originate in the brainstem, the lower portion of the brain that connects it to the spinal cord. They consist of several distinct tracts, each with specialized functions. The four main tracts of the indirect motor pathways are the vestibulospinal tract, the reticulospinal tract, the tectospinal tract, and the rubrospinal tract.
The vestibulospinal tract originates in the vestibular nuclei of the brainstem. The vestibular system detects changes in...
Motor Units01:13

Motor Units

The motor unit is a fundamental component of the neuromuscular system and plays a crucial role in coordinating muscle contractions. It consists of a somatic motor neuron, which connects and controls multiple skeletal muscle fibers, forming a single functional segment. The axon of the motor neuron branches out and establishes synaptic connections known as neuromuscular junctions with individual muscle fibers within the motor unit.
Motor units come in different sizes, with smaller units...

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MRI-guided Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomy for Patients with Medically-refractory Essential Tremor
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Published on: December 13, 2017

Motor learning in essential tremor.

Holly A Shill1, Frederick J De La Vega, Johan Samanta

  • 1Cleo Roberts Center for Clinical Research, Sun Health Research Institute, Sun City, AZ 85351, USA. holly.shill@sunhealth.org

Movement Disorders : Official Journal of the Movement Disorder Society
|February 27, 2009
PubMed
Summary

Motor learning is significantly impaired in advanced essential tremor (ET) patients, indicating cerebellar involvement. This study used a blink reflex conditioning paradigm to assess motor learning deficits in ET subjects compared to controls.

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Published on: December 31, 2013

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Neurology
  • Cerebellar Degeneration

Background:

  • Classical conditioning is often abnormal in cerebellar degeneration.
  • Purkinje cell loss is a recent pathological finding in a subset of essential tremor (ET) patients.
  • Essential tremor is a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary shaking.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate motor learning deficits in patients with long-duration essential tremor.
  • To determine if abnormal motor learning in ET is linked to cerebellar pathology.

Main Methods:

  • Studied 10 subjects with long-duration essential tremor and 9 controls.
  • Utilized a blink reflex conditioning paradigm to assess motor learning.
  • Analyzed motor learning across multiple blocks of stimulation.

Main Results:

  • Essential tremor subjects showed a 55.6% reduction in motor learning in the initial stimulation block.
  • This significant motor learning deficit persisted throughout all subsequent trials.
  • Compared to controls, ET patients demonstrated markedly impaired motor learning.

Conclusions:

  • Motor learning is significantly abnormal in subjects with advanced essential tremor.
  • The observed motor learning deficits likely reflect pathological involvement of the cerebellum in essential tremor.
  • Findings suggest a link between cerebellar dysfunction and impaired motor learning in ET.