Dominantly inherited intronic GAA repeat expansions in the fibroblast growth factor 14 gene have recently been shown to cause spinocerebellar ataxia 27B. Currently, the pathogenic threshold of (GAA) repeat units is considered highly penetrant, while (GAA) is likely pathogenic with reduced penetrance. This study investigated the frequency of the GAA repeat expansion and the phenotypic profile in a Cypriot cohort with unresolved late-onset cerebellar ataxia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating, uniformly lethal degenerative disease of motor neurons, presenting with relentlessly progressive muscle atrophy and weakness. More than fifty genes carrying causative or disease-modifying variants have been identified since the 1990s, when the first ALS-associated variant in the gene SOD1 was discovered. The most commonly mutated ALS genes in the European populations include the C9orf72, SOD1, TARDBP and FUS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiallelic variants in phosphatidylinositol glycan anchor biosynthesis, class G (PIGG) cause hypotonia, intellectual disability, seizures, and cerebellar features. We present 8 patients from 6 families with a childhood-onset motor neuropathy and neurophysiology demonstrating variable motor conduction block and temporal dispersion. All individuals had a childhood onset tremor, 5 of 8 had cerebellar involvement, and 6 of 8 had childhood febrile seizures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
October 2024
Introduction: Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis manifests various motor symptoms including impairments in corticospinal tract integrity, whose symptoms can be assessed using transcranial magnetic stimulation. Several factors, such as exercise and interlimb coordination, can influence the plastic changes in corticospinal tract. Previous work in healthy and chronic stroke survivors showed that the greatest improvement in corticospinal plasticity occurred during in-phase bilateral exercises of the upper limbs.
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