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Essential tremor is a neurodegenerative disease

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Abstract

There are many lines of evidence supporting the idea that essential tremor is more than simply a monosymptomatic disorder and that all the clinical manifestations of this frequent disorder are sustained by a neurodegenerative process. The most important lines of evidence in favor of a neurodegenerative nature of essential tremor are: the anatomic and neuroimaging data demonstrating a pathologic process involving the cerebellum and/or brainstem; the progression of symptom severity with disease duration; and the lack of spontaneous remission of this condition. All of this evidence is supported by recent studies that are summarized in this review.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroscience, University of Pisa, via Roma 67, 56126, Pisa, Italy

    Ubaldo Bonuccelli

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  1. Ubaldo Bonuccelli
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Correspondence to Ubaldo Bonuccelli.

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Bonuccelli, U. Essential tremor is a neurodegenerative disease. J Neural Transm 119, 1383–1387 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-012-0878-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-012-0878-8

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