Voluntary palatal tremor in two siblings

Mov Disord. 1998 May;13(3):545-8. doi: 10.1002/mds.870130328.

Abstract

We report two siblings with palatal tremor (PT) and ear clicks who can voluntarily elicit or suppress both PT and ear clicks by just "thinking" about starting or stopping the sounds. The patients were also able to voluntarily modulate the frequency of their ear clicks and PT. They did not have any signs of cerebellar, brain stem, or other neurologic disease. These familial palatal movements may represent a variant of palatal tremor but can not satisfactorily be classified as either symptomatic or essential PT.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Awareness / physiology
  • Electromyography
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Motor Neurons / physiology
  • Palate, Soft* / innervation
  • Tremor / classification
  • Tremor / diagnosis
  • Tremor / genetics*