Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Cerebellar Stimulation in Ataxia

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
The Cerebellum Aims and scope Submit manuscript

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ito M. Cerebellum and neural control. New York: Raven; 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Ugawa Y, Day BL, Rothwell JC, Thompson PD, Merton PA, Marsden CD. Modulation of motor cortical excitability by electrical stimulation over the cerebellum in man. J Physiol. 1991;441:57–72.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Ugawa Y, Uesaka Y, Terao Y, Hanajima R, Kanazawa I. Magnetic stimulation over the cerebellum in humans. Ann Neurol. 1995;37:703–13.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Iwata NK, Ugawa Y. The effects of cerebellar stimulation on the motor cortical excitability in neurological disorders: a review. Cerebellum. 2005;4:218–23.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Ugawa Y, Iwata NK. Cerebellar stimulation in normal subjects and ataxic patients. In: Hallett M, Chokroverty S, editors. Magnetic stimulation in clinical neurophysiology. Philadelphia: Elsevier; 2005. p. 197–210.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  6. Ugawa Y, Genba-Shimizu K, Rothwell JC, Iwata M, Kanazawa I. Suppression of motor cortical excitability by electrical stimulation over the cerebellum in ataxia. Ann Neurol. 1994;36:90–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Ugawa Y, Terao Y, Hanajima R, Sakai K, Furubayashi T, Machii K, et al. Magnetic stimulation over the cerebellum in patients with ataxia. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1997;104:453–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Shirota Y, Hamada M, Hanajima R, Terao Y, Matsumoto H, Ohminami S, et al. Cerebellar dysfunction in progressive supranuclear palsy: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study. Mov Disord. 2010;25:2413–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Kikuchi S, Mochizuki H, Moriya A, Nakatani-Enomoto S, Nakamura K, Hanajima R, et al. Ataxic hemiparesis: neurophysiological analysis by cerebellar transcranial magnetic stimulation. Cerebellum. 2011. doi:10.1007/s12311-011-0303-0.

  10. Ugawa Y. Can we see the cerebellar activation effect by TMS over the back of the head? Clin Neurophysiol. 2009;120:2006–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Financial Disclosure

S. J. Groiss was supported by a research fellowship of the Yokochi Fund of the Kanehara foundation and an intramural research grant No. KKI23038 of the Fukushima Medical University.

Y. Ugawa was supported by Research Project Grant-in-aid for Scientific Research No. 22390181 of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan; the Research Committee on rTMS Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease; the Research Committee on Intractable Pain; the Research Committee on Dystonia; the Research Committee on Degenerative Ataxia; and the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan.

Conflict of Interest

The authors report no conflict of interest related to the article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Fukushima Medical University, School of Medicine, 1 Hikarigaoka, 960-1295, Fukushima, Japan

    Stefan Jun Groiss & Yoshikazu Ugawa

Authors
  1. Stefan Jun Groiss
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yoshikazu Ugawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Stefan Jun Groiss or Yoshikazu Ugawa.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Groiss, S.J., Ugawa, Y. Cerebellar Stimulation in Ataxia. Cerebellum 11, 440–442 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12311-011-0329-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12311-011-0329-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation