Cerebellar stimulation in ataxia

Cerebellum. 2012 Jun;11(2):440-2. doi: 10.1007/s12311-011-0329-3.

Abstract

The cerebellum plays an important role in movement execution and motor control by modulation of the primary motor cortex (M1) through cerebello-thalamo-cortical connections. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) allows direct investigations of neural networks by stimulating neural structures in humans noninvasively. The motor evoked potential to single-pulse TMS of M1 is used to measure the motor cortical excitability. A conditioning stimulus over the cerebellum preceding a test stimulus of the contralateral M1 enables us to study the cerebellar regulatory functions on M1. In this brief review, we describe this cerebellar stimulation method and its usefulness as a diagnostic tool in clinical neurophysiology.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cerebellar Cortex / physiopathology
  • Cerebellar Diseases / diagnosis
  • Cerebellar Diseases / physiopathology*
  • Cerebellum / physiology*
  • Computer Simulation*
  • Humans
  • Motor Cortex / physiology
  • Neural Pathways / physiopathology
  • Spinocerebellar Ataxias / diagnosis
  • Spinocerebellar Ataxias / physiopathology*
  • Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive / physiopathology
  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation