Barkhuis, Patrick (2025) Cerebello-thalamo-cortical activation in alcohol-responsive essential tremor patients with 0.6‰ alcohol versus non-alcoholic placebo; an fMRI pilot study Figure. thesis, Medicine.
Full text available on request.Abstract
Background: Essential tremor (ET) is one of the most common movement disorders. Trembling of the hands is the main feature, which can be physically and socially disabling. Previous research shows involvement of the cerebello-thalamo-cortical circuit (CTCC) in ET pathophysiology, but exact mechanisms remain unclear. Approximately 50% of ET patients show improvement of their tremor after consumption of a moderate amount of alcohol. It is unknown what accounts for this alcohol-responsivity. Objective: This pilot study uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate brain activation in a group of alcohol-responsive ET patients, which were included based on strict criteria. The aim is to investigate the implementation of the Brain imaging in alcohol-responsive and alcohol-resistant essential tremor (BARET) study. Methodology: A group of seven alcohol-responsive ET was included. Alcohol-responsivity was determined based on an alcohol-responsivity home test, in which participants drew Archimedes spirals before and after alcohol intake. Participants were scanned twice by means of fMRI, once after intake of a placebo beverage and once after intake of a moderate amount of alcohol. Results: In rest, the CTCC showed no motor-task related activation. During a unilateral postural tremor-inducing task, the contralateral cerebral motor cortex and the ipsilateral cerebellar cortices showed activation. No significant differences in brain activation were found when comparing scans after placebo versus alcohol in this small sample. Conclusion: The results of this pilot study show a promising implementation of the BARET study. A larger sample size is necessary to show significant differences in brain activation after the intake of alcohol.
| Item Type: | Thesis (UNSPECIFIED) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Stouwe, dr. A.M.M. van der and Koning-Tijssen, prof. dr. M.A.J. de |
| Faculty: | Medical Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 19 Jan 2026 14:31 |
| Last Modified: | 19 Jan 2026 14:31 |
| URI: | https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3880 |
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