Browsing by Author "Ehrlich, Debra"
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Publication Physiology of Tremor Reduction by Putting the Hands Together in Essential Tremor(2022) McGurrin, Patrick; Vial Undurraga, Felipe; Osterholt, Thomas; Norato, Gina; Khan, Imran; Haubenberger, Dietrich; Ehrlich, Debra; Hallett, MarkBackground: Background Essential tremor is a common movement disorder, characterized by 4–12 Hz tremor of the hands and arms that can affect many activities of daily living. It has been reported by patients that when performing tasks bimanually their tremor is reduced, but why this happens is unknown. Objectives: Objectives We measured patients’ tremors in different conditions when performed with 1 hand and 2 hands to observe if bimanual task performance changes the characteristics of the tremor. Methods: Methods A total of 10 patients with essential tremor participated in the study. Electromyographic electrodes were attached bilaterally to the wrist flexor and extensor muscles, and accelerometers were attached to the dorsum of the hands. For each condition, holding a cup, wingbeat, and extending both arms up, data were collected with a single hand and bimanually with the hands touching. Results: Results When the hands were touching, there was a significant decrease in both accelerometric and electromyographic power at the tremor frequency. In addition, there was a decrease in coherence between accelerometer and electromyography on the same side. There was no change in the tremor frequency. Conclusions: Conclusions Tremor amplitude does decrease when the hands are together. Together, the characteristics underlying the decrease in tremor amplitude may indicate a decrease in power of the central oscillator driving the tremor, which we speculate is attributed to the differences in unimanual and bimanual motor control. However, given the small sample size, we note that future hypothesis-driven studies with an a priori power analysis will be required to further explore this phenomenon.Item Tremoroton, a new free online platform for tremor analysis(2020) Vial Undurraga, Felipe; McGurrin, Patrick; Osterholt, Thomas; Ehrlich, Debra; Haubenberger, Dietrich; Hallett, MarkObjective: The electrophysiological classification of tremors can be a key element in the diagnosis and can facilitate treatment of a patient with tremor; however, the ability to conduct electrophysiological studies of tremor is not widely available. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a free online platform for tremor analysis. Methods: An online platform for tremor analysis was developed using "R" language; called Tremoroton". For validation, we compared the frequency estimation of the tremor obtained with Tremoroton compared with a commercially available software in a cohort of 20 patients (10 with essential tremor and 10 with Parkinson diagnosis), comparing the activity recorded on the accelerometer, extensor carpi radialis and flexor carpi radialis EMG. An intraclass correlation coefficient was used for the comparison. Results: The final version of tremoroton is now online. It allows reading up to 6 channels, and will do time, frequency, time-frequency analysis and calculate coherence. We demonstrated a high correlation in frequency measurements (0.97 (0.945-0.984, 95% IC) for the accelerometers, 0.98 (0.977-0.994, 95% IC) for the extensor carpi radialis EMG, and 0.99 (0.987-0.997, 95% IC) for the flexor carpi radialis EMG) when compared to a commercial software. Conclusion: We were able to develop and validate a free online platform for tremor analysis. Significance: Making this tool available should help expanding tremor analysis techniques from research to the clinical setting.