title: Thalamic stimulation for disabling tremor in a patient with spinocerebellar degeneration.
abstract: Thalamic stimulation alleviated coarse action tremor in a patient with spinocerebellar degeneration (SCD) and led to substantial improvement in daily functioning, though disability from ataxia remained. Intraoperative microrecording revealed a significant correlation between neuronal activity of the ventral intermediate nucleus (Vim) and tremor electromyograms. The tremor-correlated activities of Vim neurons and abolition of the tremor by Vim stimulation suggest that Vim may be related to the generation of action tremor in SCD. Thalamic stimulation can be a useful treatment option for SCD patients with disabling tremor.
authors.affiliation: Third Department of Medicine (Neurology), Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shimojima
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Kazuma
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: Masahide
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yazaki
authors.forename: Kunihiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: Ryuzo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hongo
authors.forename: Shu-ichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ikeda
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001132:Arm / Q000503:physiopathology; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation; D004576:Electromyography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D012074:Remission Induction; D013132:Spinocerebellar Degenerations / Q000150:complications*; D014202:Tremor / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D020651:Ventral Thalamic Nuclei / Q000503:physiopathology