Topic: cerebellar neurodegeneration

Phospholipids are asymmetrically distributed across the plasma membrane. Phosphatidylserine (PS) is concentrated on the cytoplasmic leaflet of the lipid bilayer, but it is externalized in various situations. In the central nervous system, microglia and astrocytes recognize externalized PS on the neuronal plasma membrane. To maintain the PS asymmetry, flippases translocate PS from the exoplasmic leaflet to the cytoplasmic leaflet. Among all flippases, ATP8A1 and ATP8A2 are most abundantly expressed in the neurons in the brain. Genetic defects of ATP8A2 gene in humans cause severe disequilibrium

Essential tremor (ET) is a common movement disorder in which cerebellar microscopic and volume alterations have been repeatedly reported although with disagreement between studies. However, pronounced heterogeneity was found with regard to cerebellar volume alterations. This study aimed to assess postmortem cerebellar volume in subjects with or without ET, as compared with subjects with multiple system atrophy (MSA), a well-established cerebellar neurodegeneration. Cases with ET (n = 29), MSA (n = 7), and non-demented control cases without any movement disorder (n = 22) were selected from the