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Multi-Joint Reaching Movements and Eye-Hand Tracking in Cerebellar Incoordination: Investigation of a Patient with Complete Loss of Purkinje Cells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2015

W.J. Becker ,
B.L. Morrice ,
A.W. Clark  and
R.G. Lee
W.J. Becker*
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Neurosciences, The University of Calgary, Calgary
B.L. Morrice
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Neurosciences, The University of Calgary, Calgary
A.W. Clark
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Neurosciences, The University of Calgary, Calgary
R.G. Lee
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Neurosciences, The University of Calgary, Calgary
*
Calgary General Hospital, Room M4-022, 841 Centre Ave. E., Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2E 0A1
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Abstract:

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Performance on an eye-hand tracking task and a multi-joint reaching movement to a visual target was studied in a patient with stable cerebellar ataxia and in control subjects. The patient subsequently died and a full neuropathological examination was performed. The neuropathological findings were similar to those seen in patients with paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration, but no tumor was found at autopsy eight years after onset of the patient's cerebellar syndrome. A severe cerebellar cortical degeneration with complete Purkinje cell loss was demonstrated, whereas cerebellar nuclei and brainstem structures showed no neuronal loss. Tracking performance by the patient was characterized by abnormally large numbers of high velocity movements and hand direction reversals, and by excessive lagging of the hand behind the target in time. In the multi-joint reaching movement, the patient showed a delay in movement onset at the elbow joint compared to movement onset at the shoulder joint. The velocity profile of the movement at the shoulder joint was abnormal. The duration of the acceleration phase was poorly correlated with both peak angular velocity and the duration of the deceleration phase. One of the most striking findings was the inability of the patient to consistently produce the same movement direction from trial to trial while reaching to the same target. Our data suggests that the cerebellar cortex is involved in multiple aspects of motor control including visuomotor integration mechanisms.

Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , November 1991 , pp. 476 - 487
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation 1991

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