Independent component analysis aided diagnosis of cuban spino cerebellar ataxia 2

Abstract

Precedent studies have found abnormalities in the oculomotor system in patients with severe SCA2 form of autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxias (ADCA), including the latency, peak velocity, and deviation in saccadic movements, and causing changes in the morphology of the patient response waveform. This different response suggests a higher degree of statistic independence in sick patients when compared to healthy individuals regarding the patient response to the visual saccadic stimulus. We processed electro-oculogram records of six patient diagnosed with severe ataxia SCA2 and six healthy subjects used as control, employing independent component analysis (ICA), significant differences have been found in the statistical independence of the person response with the stimulus for 60° saccadic tests. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.