Ataxia

This book presents a comprehensive overview of ataxia, a common neurological disorder that affects all ages. It can manifest in children when they start to sit and walk and under a specific form of genetic disease and in the elderly through falls that worsen with age. In general, ataxia consists of the involuntary lack of coordination of muscle movements, which mainly presents as abnormalities in gait, changes in speech (e. g., scanning speech), and abnormal eye movements such as nystagmus. It results from dysfunction of the nervous system areas responsible for the coordination of movements and, most commonly, the cerebellum and its connections to the cerebrum and periphery. The book is organized into three sections and six chapters that address such topics as genetic conditions, childhood-onset ataxia, ataxia and multiple sclerosis, therapeutic interventions, and more.