Brain Tumor Center

Cerebrovascular and Endovascular

CyberKnife

Epilepsy

Gamma Knife

Movement Disorders

Pain Management

Pediatric Neurosurgery

Spine Center

Trauma

Trigeminal Neuralgia

DEFINITION

Movement disorders are neurological conditions that affect the speed, fluency, quality, and ease of movement. Abnormal fluency or speed of movement (dyskinesia) may involve excessive or involuntary movement (hyperkinesia) or slowed or absent voluntary movement (hypokinesia).

Movement disorders include the following conditions:

• Ataxia (lack of coordination, often producing jerky movements)
• Dystonia (causes involuntary movement and prolonged muscle contraction)
• Huntington's disease (also called chronic progressive chorea)
• Multiple system atrophies (e.g., Shy-Drager syndrome)
• Myoclonus (rapid, brief, irregular movement)
• Parkinson's disease
• Progressive supranuclear palsy (rare disorder that affects purposeful movement)
• Restless leg syndrome (RSD) and periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD)
• Tics (involuntary muscle contractions)
• Tourette's syndrome
• Tremor (e.g., essential tremor, resting tremor)
• Wilson disease (inherited disorder that causes neurological and psychiatric symptoms and liver disease)

Movement disorders are typically managed by a neurologist. Many of these diseases are treated with combinations of medications, physical therapy, occupational therapy and sometimes surgery.

Surgical therapies that may be of benefit include deep brain stimulation (DBS), surgical (radiofrequency) ablation, gamma knife (radiosurgical) thalamotomy and intrathecal baclofen pump implantation.

• Brian J. Snyder, M.D.
• Elizabeth M. Trinidad, M.D.

NON SURGICAL SPECIALIST

• Gad E. Klein, Ph.D
  

• Dystonia
• Epilepsy
• Essential Tremor
• Parkinson's disease
• Tremor