Hairy baskets associated with degenerative purkinje cell changes in essential tremor

127Citations
Citations of this article
72Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

Essential tremor (ET) is one of the most common neurologic diseases. Increased numbers of torpedoes and Purkinje cell (PC) loss have been documented in the brains of patients with ET. We recently observed a dense and tangled appearance ("hairiness") of the basket cell axonal plexuses that surround PC soma in Bielschowsky preparations of cerebellar cortex in ET brains. Here, we assessed basket cell "hairiness" in 37 ET (32 cerebellar ET; 5 Lewy body variant ET), 21 nondisease control, and 48 disease control brains using a semiquantitative scale. In 8 cerebellar ET cases (25%), there were high basket scores (rating = 3), whereas no Lewy body variant ET, 1 nondisease control (4.8%), and 2 diseased controls (4.2%) had high basket scores (p = 0.001). The hairy basket scores correlated with numbers of torpedoes (p < 0.001) and inversely with numbers of PCs (p = 0.06). Axonal plexus density obtained by image analysis of basket cell processes traced from digitized images was higher in ET than in nondiseased control cases (p = 0.016). Closely spaced sites of synaptic contact between basket cell processes and PCs were identified by electron microscopy in ET cases. These data indicate that structural changes are not restricted to PCs in ET, and that other neurons within their functional network may be involved in its pathogenesis. Copyright © 2010 by the American Association of Neuropathologists, Inc.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Erickson-Davis, C. R., Faust, P. L., Vonsattel, J. P. G., Gupta, S., Honig, L. S., & Louis, E. D. (2010). Hairy baskets associated with degenerative purkinje cell changes in essential tremor. Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, 69(3), 262–271. https://doi.org/10.1097/NEN.0b013e3181d1ad04

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free