In the clinic, tremor is diagnosed during a time-limited process in which patients are observed and the characteristics of tremor are visually assessed. For some tremor disorders, a more detailed analysis of these characteristics is needed. Accelerometry and electromyography can be used to obtain a better insight into tremor. Typically, routine clinical assessment of accelerometry and electromy...

We present clinical features and tremor characterization in a patient with Parkinson's disease (PD) as well as in two cases of essential tremor (ET) with some parkinsonian features but no evidence of dopaminergic terminal loss on (123)I-FP-CIT Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT). Relatively slow frequency rest tremor and bilateral upper extremity bradykinesia without decrementing...

OBJECTIVES Thalamic stimulation has been proposed to treat disabling tremor. The aims of this multicentre study were to evaluate the efficacy and the morbidity of thalamic stimulation in a large number of patients with parkinsonian or essential tremor. METHODS One hundred and eleven patients were included in the study and 110 were implanted either unilaterally or bilaterally. Patients were ev...

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the ventrolateral thalamus stops several forms of tremor. Microelectrode recordings in the human thalamus have revealed tremor cells that fire synchronous with electromyographic tremor. The efficacy of DBS likely depends on its ability to modify the activity of these tremor cells either synaptically by stopping afferent tremor signals or by directly altering the ...

OBJECTIVES To determine the efficacy of bilateral deep brain stimulation (DBS) for management of midline tremor (head, voice, tongue, trunk) in patients with essential tremor. DESIGN Prospective assessment of tremor at baseline (presurgical), and postoperatively at 1, 3, and 12 months, and annually thereafter. METHODS A clinical series of 22 individuals undergoing staged, bilateral DBS for ...

The cerebellum is assumed to play a major role in the pathophysiology of essential tremor (ET). As intention tremor is considered one of the classical features of cerebellar disease, we have assessed a large group of patients with ET for the semiology of the tremor and have performed objective quantitative analysis of a grasping movement in patients with ET, cerebellar disease and a normal cont...

A great deal of effort has been devoted in the past decades in the generic area of tremor management. Specific topics of modelling for objective classification of pathological tremor out of kinematics and physiological data, compensatory technologies and evaluation rating tools are just a few examples of application field. This paper introduces a comprehensive review of research work in this ge...

BACKGROUND Harmaline-induced tremor in rodents has been extensively used as an animal model for essential tremor (ET). However, there is no visual documentation in the published literature. METHODS We injected mice subcutaneously with either 20 mg/kg of harmaline hydrochloride or saline and then videotaped the responses. RESULTS Action and postural tremor in the mouse began 5 minutes after ...

BACKGROUND Portable motion transducers, suitable for measuring tremor, are now available at a reasonable cost. The use of these transducers requires knowledge of their limitations and data analysis. The purpose of this review is to provide a practical overview and example software for using portable motion transducers in the quantification of tremor. METHODS Medline was searched via PubMed.go...

OBJECTIVES To examine the comparative reliability and validity of three simple ways of rating upper limb tremor in patients with multiple sclerosis. METHODS Three examiners independently rated severity of upper limb tremor in patients with multiple sclerosis on a 0-10 scale by studying videotape recordings of patients' examinations, spiral drawings, and handwriting samples. The correlations o...