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Bilateral pedunculopontine nuclei strokes presenting as freezing of gait
Author(s) -
Kuo ShengHan,
Kenney Christopher,
Jankovic Joseph
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
movement disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.352
H-Index - 198
eISSN - 1531-8257
pISSN - 0885-3185
DOI - 10.1002/mds.21917
Subject(s) - pedunculopontine nucleus , gait , progressive supranuclear palsy , neuroscience , physical medicine and rehabilitation , parkinson's disease , disease , psychology , medicine , autopsy , pathology , deep brain stimulation
Abstract The penduculopontine nucleus (PPN) has been suggested to play an important role in locomotion, based on animal studies, but its function in humans has not been well defined. Autopsy studies have suggested that PPN pathology correlates with gait dysfunction in Parkinson's disease and in progressive supranuclear palsy but direct clinical evidence is lacking. We report a patient with bilateral PPN infarcts whose dominant clinical feature was freezing of gait, thus providing evidence that PPN is involved in human locomotion and that damage to the PPN may lead to abnormal gait. © 2008 Movement Disorder Society