Can rehabilitation help ataxia?

@article{Morton2009CanRH,
  title={Can rehabilitation help ataxia?},
  author={Susanne M. Morton and Amy J. Bastian},
  journal={Neurology},
  year={2009},
  volume={73},
  pages={1818 - 1819}
}
Gait ataxia is one of the most common and debilitating motor disorders associated with cerebellar damage.1 Although some recovery occurs following a single, focal lesion (e.g., stroke, benign tumor),2 steady declines in gait and balance function are typical among individuals with cerebellar degenerative diseases. Currently, there are no pharmacologic treatments available to reverse or even substantially reduce motor disability caused by cerebellar degeneration. Thus, physical therapy forms the… 
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24 Citations

24 Citations

General Management of Cerebellar Disorders: An Overview
  • D. Timmann
  • Psychology, Biology
    Handbook of the Cerebellum and Cerebellar Disorders
  • 2020
TLDR
This chapter reviews the state of the art in medical intervention and rehabilitation, focusing on presenting new results on motor rehabilitation in cerebellar disease, and current studies in the area of motor learning – in combination with modern imaging techniques – in cere Bellar disease are described.
Consensus Paper: Management of Degenerative Cerebellar Disorders
TLDR
There is consensus that evidence-based guidelines for the physiotherapy of degenerative cerebellar ataxia need to be developed, and future developments in physiotherapeutical interventions will be discussed including application of non-invasive brain stimulation.
Motor Training in Degenerative Spinocerebellar Disease: Ataxia-Specific Improvements by Intensive Physiotherapy and Exergames
TLDR
It is demonstrated that high-intensity coordinative training might lead to a significant benefit in patients with degenerative ataxia, and preliminary recommendations for clinical practice are presented and open questions are articulate that might guide future studies on neurorehabilitation in degenerative spinocerebellar disease.
Update on intensive motor training in spinocerebellar ataxia: time to move a step forward?
TLDR
Overall, data converge of the finding that intensive training is still based either on conventional rehabilitation protocols or whole-body controlled videogames (“exergames”), and short-term improvement is observed, which tends to be lost once the training is stopped.
Effects of repeated waist-pull perturbations on gait stability in subjects with cerebellar ataxia
TLDR
The results revealed that participants with cerebellar ataxia could still rely on their learning capability to modify the gait towards a safer behavior, however, they could not take advantage from their residual learning capability while managing sudden and unexpected perturbations.
Consensus Paper: Neurophysiological Assessments of Ataxias in Daily Practice
TLDR
The purpose of this consensus paper is to review electrophysiological abnormalities and to provide a guideline of neurophysiological assessments in cerebellar ataxias and agree that quantitative measures of ataxia are desirable as biomarkers.
Republished: A practical approach to late-onset cerebellar ataxia: putting the disorder with lack of order into order.
TLDR
A diagnostic approach to ataxia developed around a case of sporadic, late-onset, slowly progressive ataxio is suggested, which can narrow the differential diagnosis.
Long‐term effects of coordinative training in degenerative cerebellar disease
TLDR
Improvements in motor performance and achievements in activities of daily life 1 year after a 4 week intensive coordinative training, which was followed by a home training program persisted, indicating that in patients with degenerative cerebellar disease, continuous coordinatorative training leads to long‐term improvements, which translate to real world function.
Cerebellar involvement in learning to balance a cart-pole system
TLDR
It is found that online learning is impaired while offline learning is partly preserved in cerebellar subjects, and the ability to predict the dynamics of the cart-pole system is an important factor for the reward-based skill acquisition process.
Individualized exergame training improves postural control in advanced degenerative spinocerebellar ataxia: A rater-blinded, intra-individually controlled trial.
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