Based on the functional imaging data described in this study, it is hypothesized that a mesiofrontal deactivation is another characteristic feature of orthostatic tremor and plays a pivotal role in development of postural unsteadiness during prolonged standing.
Florian Schöberl, Katharina Feil, Guoming Xiong, Peter Bartenstein, Christian la Fougére, Klaus Jahn, Thomas Brandt, Michael Strupp, Marianne Dieterich, Andreas Zwergal
Hi Gloria and Jeff. I too don’t fully understand this report. But something at the conclusion of the summary caught my attention. “High frequency oscillatory properties of pontine tegmental neurons have been reported in pathological oscillatory eye movements.”
In the past 2 years my OT has been greatly decreased by a prescription of prism glasses. It has been a mystery as to why they have helped. Since then I have always had a feeling that the eye movement has a connection to OT. Several others have tried prism lens. Some have had the same level of decreased tremors and others not so much. I have tested by wearing my regular prescription glasses instead of the prism. After 5 days I went back to full mode OT.
During an eye exam by my ophthalmologist, unusual eye movement is sometimes seen in both eyes. The prism glasses control this and improve my balance and standing time.
The brain uses glucose as a primary source of energy. Glucose is delivered to the brain via the blood-brain barrier. Glucose is converted into glycogen and adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Both of these are used as energy to fuel the cells of our brains and other body cells. The brain is very complex in how it uses and adapts these converted energies within the various parts of the brain. This study talks about two distinct parts of the brain each having multiple components. For people with OT there is a significant decrease in glucose metabolism ( the conversion of glucose into energy) in the mesiofrontal cortical areas and a significant increase in the brain section called the pontine tegmentum. The neurons in our brains get excited ( start moving) by the flood of converted glucose. In people with OT the imbalance in the use of the converted glucose is causing excitation of certain muscle frequencies beyond normal.
Think of a simple electrical motor in your furnace at home that is designed to run at 60 hz. Think of the electricity supplying that motor as the converted glucose in the brain. When all is normal the motor runs smooth. If all of a sudden the electrical energy being supplied changed (the glucose in our brains) to 80hz. The motor would probably start shaking to the point of failure. The motor shaking is like our legs shaking. I know this is a simple example and maybe not completely scientific but it may bring some understanding.
The part of the study that is puzzling is that the glucose imbalance is there whether we are standing or laying down. They are hypothesizing that the complex multilevel neurons in our brains fire differently when we are standing then when we are sitting or laying down.
So to sum it up the sturdy says we have a glucose conversion imbalance in our brains. One section is not getting enough and the other too much.